In bed with the JVP is a faction of the PA, unofficially led by the President’s brother, Anura Bandaranaike, who failed in his bid to become the leader of the party in Parliament. That went to the more intelligent Mahinda Rajapakse, the son of a former Marxist.
There is no love lost between Bandaranaike and Rajapakse, nor between their factions within the PA. This will shortly come to a head when the President has to nominate one or the other as the Presidential candidate of the PA. The undeclared ‘plot’ seems to be for the President to have her brother elected as President (to succeed her) and for her to step down into Parliament and at the same time return Executive power from the Presidency to Parliament. That seems to be the strategy. Whether the Sinhala people will be dumb enough to allow this ‘grand plan’ to succeed is another matter. Unfortunately, history has shown that the Sinhalese are “dumb” in this context and will probably allow it to happen.
Anura Bandaranaike’s leadership qualities are best described in a Sri Lankan newspaper, which recently asked:- “Are we to be led by Anura Bandaranaike even when he is sober ? When he was afforded (by the UNP, no less) a rare opportunity to serve the nation and made Speaker, what did he do? He trotted the globe with his servant boys at state expense. He ordered himself magnificent raiment from the finest British tailors and charged it to the public purse. Is the future of this country to be consigned to people who have never done an honest job in their lives but have lived instead as parasites on the taxpayers generosity?”
Anura Bandaranaike, like his father, mother and sister, thinks that the way to the top is by embracing Sinhala chauvinism (some 70% of the population being Sinhala-Buddhist). He is currently campaigning against the prevailing peace.
He was earlier even against the de-proscription of the LTTE, even if that meant that the LTTE would not come to the negotiating table. Such are Anura Bandaranaike’s priorities. A pertinent question was asked by the editor of a newspaper who is a Sinhalese:- “If the LTTE is unwilling to talk while the proscription stands, then should we abandon the cease-fire and return to war? If so, will they come forward to fight? Or is it only other mother’s sons who must die, even as the likes of Anura Bandaranaike globe trot, bottle in hand, living off the patronage of friends?”.
If Sri Lanka is going to be led by the likes of Anura Bandaranaike or the JVP or, as is likely, both, it may well be the end of country. The choice lies with the Sinhalese people, not the Tamils, because it is the Sinhalese who elect the Head of State, the Tamils being mere spectators.
It is important to focus on this since these are the so-called Sinhalese “leaders” that will rule (ruin) Sri Lanka. If the Sinhalese choose to be led by such people, that is their choice. However, there is no reason to inflict such abysmal ‘leadership’ on the Tamils and no earthly reason why the Tamils should accept it either. Although it is not recognised as such, this is one of the strongest reasons for a Separate Tamil State, Eelam i.e. to distance the Tamil people from ‘leaders’ such as this.