President Maithripala Sirisena - simplicity personified

by Nadira Gunatilleke

I come to office early morning and take a telephone call to one specific number once in a while. A person answers the phone in a gentle and polite manner. He is not in a hurry as many other leading politicians. He never said ‘no’ to any of the questions I asked him despite my not being close to him at that time.

After a telephone conversation one morning, I went to him for an interview at his official residence. I went there first and many others including foreign delegates, heads of state institutions, eminent doctors were there to meet him.

He arrived sharp at 8.30 a.m., looked at us and pointed his finger at me. “Look, I gave the first appointment of this morning to this lady when she called me a few days ago. So please wait. I will talk to her first and meet you all thereafter.”

This is one of the few occasions during my entire 19-year career in journalism I received due recognition and treatment by a leading politician in power. This politician is none other then our beloved President Maithripala Sirisena.

His ideas were very clear. They were straightforward and short. He described things in detail only when required. He did not boast and did not sling mud at others. It was easy to write what he says. He saved my valuable time and the money of my company by giving me the opportunity to do the interviews at the given time. In October 2014, he gave me his last interview as ‘the Health Minister’. I went to his office with one of my colleagues from the Dinamina, our sister newspaper. We waited for a few minutes. Then he called us and asked us why we waited there without coming to his room.

We were talking to his media coordinator (the Health Ministry) about this down to earth, calm and well organised giant politician. After a while he called us and invited us to sit with him. His former media coordinator was sitting next to us. Our first question was about the ‘common candidate’! He started to answer our questions.

As citizen of this country, I had one dream. That is a country where any poor citizen who does not speak English can walk to any state hospital and receive the best treatment without the influence of politicians.

What is the point if we need ‘contacts’ to obtain services from state institutions? What is the point if we need to spend money and bribe people to get the services of State departments? Now the day has down that my dream is becoming a reality.

“I worked and had close contacts with this Health Minister for years. Therefore, I know about him well. He has already completed 47 years as a politician and 25 years as a Parliamentarian. Once he said ‘Humility should come before nobleness’. On another occasion he said ‘the SLFP is my life and if I fail to save it one day, I will die with it like a captain who dies with his ship ones he fails to save it from the storm’.

He never invited his family members to his ministry even on the day he assumed duties. Once, one of his brothers visited him and when he saw him, he asked why he came.

Then the brother said he came to see the ministry. Then he said after you see it you could go back’. He always said that we did not bring anything with us when we are born and we will never take anything with us when we die,” says Dharma Vanninayaka who handled this political giant’s media unit while he was serving as the Health Minister.

According to Vanninayake, former Health Minister and current President Maithripala Sirisena was the only cabinet minister who handed over his powers in writing to others who were in lower ranks to ensure the public received a speedy service from state institutions. As a former Agricultural Minister and Health Minister, President Sirisena delegated a certain amount of his powers to Provincial Health Ministers and other relevant authorities to provide an efficient service. He did this in writing. No other cabinet minister did this.

Many of them tried to grab and retain more power and not delegate powers to others.

The way he reads newspapers reveals his well organised and disciplined character. Many read newspapers and leave them in a mess. But when President Sirisena reads a newspaper, he leaves it back as a newspaper for sale at a stand.

While holding Cabinet Ministerial positions, President Sirisena never allowed his employees to display his photographs at his ministries. Usually all cabinet ministers displayed their photographs along with a photograph of (then) President at their ministries.

While holding the office of Mahaweli Development Minister, he displayed the photograph of former Mahaweli Development Minister Gamini Dissanayake and not his.

When an employee removed it and replaced it with a photograph of (then) Mahaweli Development Minister Maithripala Sirisena, he ordered the employee to remove it immediately and replace the photograph of late Gamini Dissanayake. Again another employee printed a large number of photographs of (then) Minister Sirisena without informing about it to him. When Minister Sirisena got to know about it, he transferred the employee to another Ministry with immediate effect and ordered relevant officials to deduct the money spent on printing the photographs from the salary of that employee, Vanninayake said.

He also followed the Lord Buddha’s teachings when consuming food.

He lived with Bhikkus at an Aranya Senasana (forest monastery) for three days and after he returned he told his staff that Bhikkus fall sick due to the type of dana offered to them without knowing the health impact of food.

A healthy dana menu should be introduced for Bhikkus to protect them from diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases etc.

One morning for his breakfast he was having Meneri rice with Sambal. A top officer said “Minister, is this your breakfast? Usually Ministers eat well!’. Then he replied. ‘I am a man from the village and I can eat anything. Rice and sambal is a good meal. But you all eat ‘different things’.

President Sirisena is a good singer. He loves the songs of Victor Rathnayake and the late Gunadasa Kapuge. His favourite song is ‘Adaraye ulpatha wu amma’(mother – the origin of love) sung by Victor Rathnayake. President Sirisena is a sensitive person.

He cried a lot when his mother passed away and when her ashes were released into water. He did not eat for days after her death, Vanninayake said.

He saved large amounts of public money.

He did not allow state officials to steal. He did not sign false documents presented to him by officials to get away with Government funds. He went through them carefully. In May, 2014 he saved Rs. 360 million when he made arrangements to hand over the construction of the Polonnaruwa - Batticaloa alternative road to the engineers of the Road Development Authority (RDA).

Initially the project was estimated to cost Rs. 550 million by a private contractor.

The length of the new road was only one kilometer. But the project was completed by the engineers of the RDA at a cost of Rs. 190 million saving Rs. 360 million. The project was completed saving Rs. 360 million for the Government and the contractor was targeting at a huge profit by undertaking the same project.

He never allowed officials of the Health Ministry to harass female employees. He took immediate action against abusers without considering their ranks, Vanninayake stressed.

Once President Sirisena quoted a Zen Buddhist story which says “if you climb a mountain, first look at the base and not the peak’.

Now as he has reached the peak he will soon establish equality and justice in the country, Vanninayake added.