Malaysia predicament in Mahinda’s comeback trail
My dear Mahinda maama,
I thought I must write to you, as people are talking about you once again especially after that
ON THE Mahathir chap returned to power in Malaysia at DOCUMENTS SIGNED: the ripe old age of ninety-two. That almost makes it We were able to sign five sound as if you are too young to run for high office (05) MoUs in different fields. They are: when the next elections are held in two years! MoU in the field of Health, Medical The parallels with Malaysia are quite similar, Science, Pharmaceutical and aren’t they? The people were dissatisfied with the Medical Equipment government in office because those in high places MoU between the Institute of were accused of corruption. That Mahathir chap Standards & Industrial Research of left the party he had been with for decades and Iran (ISIRI) and Sri Lanka Standard joined a new alliance to contest the elections -- and Institution (SLSI) on Cooperation he won. in the field of Standardisation, It is tempting to think that history will repeat Meteorology, Training itself in our paradise, Mahinda maama. There is MoU on the Cooperation in no reason to believe it won’t, after the elections for Combating Illicit Trafficking in the local councils in February. It is three months Narcotic Drugs between Sri Lanka since then and both the Blues and the Greens have and Iran shown they haven’t learnt from their mistakes. MoU for Cooperation in the field of Still, Mahinda maama, there is one big difference Cinema and Television and between our Paradise and Malaysia. In Malaysia, MoU on Programme of Cultural, that chap Mahathir could run for the top job, Scientific and Technical because there was no limit on the number of times Cooperation he could be PM. In Paradise, however, you can’t run I firmly believe that at the 12th Joint for the top job — and that is a big problem, isn’t it? Economic Commission of the two counNow you have to find a candidate to run the race tries, which is to be held in Tehran for you in less than two years’ time. It reminds me soon, all issues in economic, trade and of how you were mocking the opposition three technical-engineering services will be years ago when they were trying to find a ‘common followed up. candidate’. It does seem as if the wheel has turned
ON OIL IMPORTS FROM IRAN: full circle and now you are in the same plight! Iran has agreed to export oil to Sri It is good to talk about democracy within your Lanka. It was highlighted during the camp but you will have to find someone from the talks that Iran was the first country to family to run for you, Mahinda maama, because assist Sri Lanka to develop an oil refinyou can’t trust anyone in this business, can you? ery in the country. President Sirisena Certainly not after what Maithri did after being requested Iran to assist Sri Lanka to your loyal and faithful servant for more than ten explore the oil resources in Sri Lanka. years.
ON TRADE TIES: They discussed varIt is not as if you could ask anyone else from your ious issues such as selling oil, petroragtag crew in the ‘Joint Opposition’ to run for you chemicals, and construction materials either. If you had Vasu, Wimal, Udaya or even that and technical-engineering services GL fellow contesting, they wouldn’t get any votes. from Iran to Sri Lanka. The Iranians Dinesh may have a chance but I think he is too honstated that their companies and experts est a politician to able to win a dirty contest. are ready to provide technical-engiI suppose you are lucky because you can always neering services to Sri Lanka in differrely on the ‘sahodara samaagama’ — your ‘compaent fields such as construction of dams ny of brothers’ — to stand for election for you. and power plants, as well as developThere is Chamal, Basil and Gota to choose from, ments of refineries, railroad construcbut that has its own share of its problems because tion and delivering power to villages in you would then have to choose which one it would Sri Lanka. Furthermore,be.bothleaders discussed scientific cooperation For some reason, Gota seems to be the odds-on between the two countries especially in favourite for the task. That is interesting because, the field of medical sciences and of the three brothers, he is the only one who has exporting pharmaceutical products to never been a politician or been in Parliament. That Sri Lanka. is not a problem because when Satellite became
Direct flights between Teheran and PM, she too had never been in Parliament before. Colombo were also discussed to faciliGota is slowly going about building his image, tate travel between the two countries. giving speeches that project him as the ‘chosen Promoting tea exports from Sri Lanka one’. His track record as Defence Secretary and to Iran, developing a new mechanism winning the war should stand him in good stead. for banking systems for financial transBesides, as we can all plainly see now, being a miliaction between the two countries were tary officer is better training than being a ‘grama also taken up. Both sides agreed that sevaka’! the banking system is very important However, Gota has to clear a few hurdles first. He for promoting bilateral trade, tourism is still a citizen of Trump Land. Then there are also and foreign direct investment. all those stories about white vans and abductions in which his name is being mentioned. He hasn’t been found guilty of any of that yet, but if that was to happen, your plans might be disrupted.
That is why some are mentioning Basil as a possible candidate. He too has the same problem, doesn’t he, Mahinda maama? There are all those allegations about corruption against him but then, the ‘ yahapalanaya’ chaps couldn’t prove anything all these years, so it is unlikely they can do so now.
Then there is Chamal. He appears to be squeaky clean compared to the other brothers but he will be eighty in two years’ time — although that is still quite young by Mahathir’s standards. The problem, however, is that he is the gentle type — and he might find that to be a disadvantage if he is contesting.
I don’t envy you, because you must take a decision soon. There might be another option too: Maithri as the candidate after the two factions of the Blues unite, promising to make you PM. I hope you are smart enough not to fall for that trick, Mahinda maama — after seeing what he did to the Green Man!
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: After Mahathir returned to power, he has promised to retire and make way for his former rival who he had previously jailed. Even if you follow in Mahathir’s footsteps, Mahinda maama, I don’t think there is any chance of you making way for the Field Marshall, is there?