What a weight to hang!

Light Refractions by Lucien Rajakarunanayake

One must admit he has a sense of humour, especially the ability to laugh at himself. In relating to parliament the story of the telephone threats to his life, Mr. Anura Bandaranaike, the Minister of National Heritage said he could also be abducted, or "ussanna" or lifted to use colloquial term, the way many people are lifted today. But with light relief he told the House that although it would be possible to lift the Speaker, lifting him will not be possible as he is heavy. There are not many who admit to their body weight, but Mr. Bandaranaike is no ordinary person.

He is the son of two Prime Ministers and the brother of a President, and as he says it this gives him even more weight. We've got to take his word about his political weight or clout, as it may be.

Lifters

But being so heavy as to cause problems to the "lifters" one wonders why he is so concerned about the telephone threats about being hanged. Firstly he has to be lifted to be hanged. So, if it is not possible to lift him, he can't be hanged. But just in case he is lifted, with a help of a forklift or some other equipment the "lifters" may use, it will certainly be no easy task to hang him.

It certainly can't be like the recent celebrity hanging of Saddam Hussein, who had lost so much weight in American custody. There will be the need for a great deal of rope to hang Mr. Bandaranaike, and all of it imported from the best sources. With those who had threatened him saying he would be hanged from a lamppost at Attanagalla, one must also be certain of there being a strong enough lamppost in that area to carry such a weight, in person and politics, that cannot be easily lifted.

Not that anyone wants Mr. AB hanged. He's so much fun to have around, especially these days when he is emphasizing his political heritage, after being put in charge of National Heritage. And he is the son of two Prime Ministers and the brother of a President, who claims ownership of the SLFP, too.Although his verbal firing in Parliament about the alleged threats to his life was rapid, at times it was off the mark too.

Mr. AB said his majority at Attanagalla contributed to the overall national majority that helped elect Mahinda Rajapaksa as President. Now we must take it as revealed truth that the Attanagalla majority was personal to him or the Bandaranaike family, and not for the SLFP or UPFA. That's a bit hard to swallow, given the fact that Attanagalla has fared badly for the SLFP in some elections. Forget it, when Mr. AB says that Attanagalla is the fiefdom of the Bandaranaikes we mere mortals must accept it.

Whatever the majority at Attanagalla may have done for the candidate from Beliatta, we do recall that during the campaign for the election of Mahinda Rajapaksa as President, the support from Mr. AB was not very warm. It could be described as lukewarm or even worse. So it could well be that the majority for Mahinda Rajapaksa at Attanagalla was despite his efforts, rather than because of it. Of course Mr. AB. is free to have his own ideas and dreams of his influence in his own fief. That's all part of the humour in politics today.

New responsibilities

I'm sure it is not his new responsibilities with National heritage that make Mr. AB insist that the SLFP is his inheritance. He must have been joking, because it's so difficult for the ownership of political party to be handed down through parentage. Also, it's not as if Mr. AB has been very consistent in his stay with the party of his parents, either. One recalls that he left the party more than once, and that he took his mother, the then leader of the SLFP, to courts too. I suppose we are to consider that as a family dispute, and nothing to do with politics and the SLFP.

Of one remembers right, for many years when his sister was President Mr. AB was with the UNP and not the SLFP. Of course, in his own inimitable way he can always say that too was a just a family spat, and should not affect his claims to inheritance of the SLFP.

Funny

Whatever the claims to inheritance of the SLFP Mr. AB may make, funny as they are, one does recall that when his father founded the party, together with Mr. Sri Nissanka and others, he did it to give a new voice to the common man, to the Appuhamys referred to by Mr. B in his reference to the telephone threats, with more than a touch of the feudal. One can't imagine the founder of a Social Democratic party, ever intending its leadership to be handed down unthinkingly from father to son, or in down the matriarchal line, or even from brother to sister.

It is the dynamics of politics that matter in such things. But, let's not forget that Mr. AB is the son of two Prime Ministers and the brother of a President, and is now the Minister of National Heritage. Let's give him a big hand for keeping us laughing. We want him around for much longer, just for that pleasure. He's a likeable heavyweight to have around.

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