Et tu, Diana?
Diana Gamage not only did her party no favours by voting for the 20th Amendment, she did herself and the demand for greater women’s representation disservice by misquoting the well known lines from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar during Friday’s debate on the COVID-19 issue.
Explaining why she went against her Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) decision to vote against the 20th Amendment, she quoted, or misquoted, the words Brutus, the trusted friend and senator who was among those who killed the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar makes justifying his act: "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more."
In trying to say, and rightly as it should be, that she loved Sri Lanka more than her own party, the MP nominated on the National List said it was ‘Antonio’ who said so. The Antonio she mistakenly referred to was Mark Antony or Marcus Antonius the Roman politician and general who in the play sarcastically, turns the tables on the conspirators calling them 'honourable men.'
Unfortunately, none of the honourable MPs present was able to correct the MP’s faux pas.
It was also possibly not the best choice of quotes for the occasion in praising someone who is being accused of clothing himself as an Emperor with 20A.
The whole Shakespearean play is one of oratory, cunning, treachery and eventually a crime.
Asked about it later, Ms. Gamage claimed she was “well aware” of what happened to Caesar and who killed him, but said she could not go into great detail explaining it since she was only given nine minutes to speak.
“In every story there is a synopsis. What I meant to say was that I love my party, but that I love my country more. That is why I chose to support President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Some people often get the wrong end of the stick and this has created a huge issue,” she said.