|
|
|
| Sunday, 23 April 2006 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Government spokesman or 'Tamil' politician?
Keheliya Rambukwella who has been appointed a spokesman for government has been a man with a gab, as he has been a bit of a maestro on the small screen appearing in talk shows with such regularity, particularly during certain prime-times in which the national discourse was of a very political nature. Those days Rambukwella has almost everything going for him on TV except that he tended to look so much like a Tamil politician with also diametrically opposite views. You are excused therefore if you thought recently that one Mr Raviraj had been appointed a government spokesman. 'Friends'
Ranil Wickremesighe was determined to look determined at one of his party meetings for frontliners and heavyweights. He looked sombre, and made the following pronouncement, putting on his best face. "Now, I will make plans for the 2011 Presidential election. With my forward planning, we will win that one" he said. One of his friends in the party hierarchy, who was seated within his earshot, being a bit of a wag nudged the man in the neighbouring seat, and said "while he is at it, maybe he could make plans for 2017 also." Ah, now that man really knows his leader's potential. As for Ranil he probably said to himself 'with friends like these....'' Expanding shopping list!
Now, Tamil shops in Western cities - - and in Jaffna - are identified more by their political affiliations than the taste of the Mullagtwany. Have you been to the PLOTE shop, the EPDP shop, or the Tiger shop? Nobody really bothers. Business goes by who sells the best, and who respects the sell-by date. Have trouble deciding which shop to shop at? That shopping list is expanding. That's called democratic capitalism. Petrol price hike
Petrol is going up no doubt, but this increase was coming given that the State bureaucracy has been working overtime to make it felt by fuel users - - particularly petrol users - that they are sitting on an untenable un-maintainable subsidy. They have gone on public television, these bureaucrats, making fuel users feel guilty - or at least almost guilty - for being the beneficiaries of this subsidy. The only thing they did not say was that 'if fuel goes up by the rates we contemplate, next time you will have to go to the petrol station and ask for a little petrol to be sprayed behind your ears. Fortunately, the price hike was not that drastic. HR Commissioner' and his campaign A human rights 'commissioner' is doing good work with regards to some human rights violations in Sri Lanka, but he does get over the top sometimes. Now, he is making a case for Sri Lanka to be kept out of the membership United Nations Human Rights council. He calls torture endemic. If he is taking case by case objections to torture, hats off to him - but now his campaign appears to be an attack against the Sri Lankan State. Pity. No rejoinder
One day, a typically confused UNPer was on the general topic of the UNPs current affliction which is that it has the most loss prone leader in the history of this country. The man was forlorn, but being a party loyalist - - and a Ranil loyalist to boot - he was, (even through his film of tears shed on behalf of the plight of the party) - making a pitch in defence of the current leader. He was trotting out the position of all who have the unenviable task of defending Ranil despite his serial losing streak. He said ''who can replace Ranil after all.....show me anybody in the UNP who can really replace Ranil.'' "Why you", said the listener. To that the man who had many arguments during the day, had no rejoinder. That was enough for him to realise that quite simply, anybody is better
than the guy who is there at his party's helm. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
