I will not say Ranil’s a rogue, says Dinesh
This Monday morning, five days after a great majority of Parliamentarians had expressed their fullest confidence in Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and defeated the no-confidence motion brought against him by the joint opposition based on his alleged involvement in the bond scam, an interviewer on a TV channel attempted to have Ranil for his breakfast.
His guest was Dinesh Gunawardena, the leader of the joint opposition, the leader of his own Mahajana Eksath Peramuna Party, the son of Philip, the Boralugoda Lion of old.
After describing Dinesh as a great politician of great substance and, after heaping fulsome praise upon him and hanging him on the murunga attha, the question put to him by the interviewer was indeed a loaded one:
“Can you honestly say that Ranil Wickremesinghe is a rogue?”
Dinesh didn’t blink. Even though he had been one of the main proponents of the no confidence motion against the Prime Minister based on his supposed guilt in the bond swindle, Dinesh gave a direct and succinct answer.
He said: “Ranil Wicremesinghe has to be proved to be a rogue. It’s to the courts to decide that. “
How true. And how sad for the unfortunate interviewer. Though he did not touch the breakfast bacon on his plate, Dinesh’s answer left egg all over his chubby cherubic face.
In all fairness, by the same coin and token, it’s up to the court to prove that the Rajapaksas are rogues as alleged by the coalition government, on which slogan they came to power.
The sooner they get on with their task using their powers to expedite the investigative process to bring alleged rogues to justice - which both Maithri and Ranil and their party members promised they would do in the run up to the 2015 presidential election no sooner they were elected; and still continue to parrot three years after - the better it will be. Repeated allegations without action have only served to bring the Government’s credibility into contempt.
Let those against whom allegations are made be brought to the final altar of justice: The Courts. And let the Courts decide on their guilt or innocence. After all, whats sauce for the goose must also be sauce for the gander.