Saying One Party Is No Good Does Not Imply An Assertion That An Alternative Is Good – Reply To Rajiva Wijesinha

By Shyamon Jayasinghe –January 4, 2018

“I agree, however, with Rajiva Wijesinha on one point here, namely when he charges Ranil Wickremasinghe of showing backingto Arjuna Mahendran as Governor of the Central Bank, ….despite obvious misdemeanours. Ranil does have a weakness of supporting old Royalist classmates etc and turning a blind eye at their misdemeanours.” That is his bad kamma and he will pay for that.

Flawed Logic

Rajiva Wijesinhasays I bear an “intellectual pretence.” Being curious to know what an ‘intellectual’ is like, I looked at the Cambridge English Dictionary in my possession. It says, “relating to your abilityto think and understand things, especially complicated ideas.” I don’t think this is a special gift that persons like Rajiva possess. Most of us readers have that. It is just that some cloud their intellect with emotions and prejudices that distort their perspective in making judgments about men and matters. Pardon me, Rajiva has a serious problem here as is evident in his response piece to my article that appears in the Colombo Telegraph.

For one, he is illogical in his reasoning. The very central theme of his criticism of my referenced article represents flawed logic. This is because he believes that my repudiationof the SLFP’s record implies I am an “apologist for the UNP,” one of thatparty’s competitors.

Hang Up

I haven’t said any of that sort. Rajiva has a hang-up in this whole political business, namely that he possesses an old family grouse with Ranil Wickremasinghe. This prejudice has clouded his reasoning faculty. Unless he is mindful of this limitation he is unlikely to be productive in his political thinking.

Rajiv’s most recent row with the Prime Minister is over his role as State Minister in the newly-formed Unity Government. Everyone in Sri Lanka knows that the portfolio of ‘State Minister,’ is humbug. It has been a strategic device to keep MPs happy by giving the latter the title to impress their networks and the accompanying perks like STF security, official luxury cars and so forth. For decades, our politicians have been kept content by this trick. Our political leaders don’t bother hat this is being done at the expense of taxpayers. The typical Sri Lankan craves for ‘thaththvaya,” and that greed must be satiated.

However,Rajiv aWijesinghe apparently couldn’t grasp that subtle situation and he went on to pretend to be a fully-fledged minister and kept overriding his Cabinet Minister by giving officials various policy lines to work on, monitoring their work and so on. What Rajiva should have done was to sit pretty with the title and go about like a peacock displaying its colours.

Rajiva’s action annoyed his Minister and a bit of a dispute occurs. He went up to the Prime Minister and complained.Ranil Wickremasinghe, in his usual low PR-style, asked his cousin to go and read a book titled,”The power of the Impossible.” This vexed Rajiva and he threw away his portfolio unnecessarily. In his article Rajiva claims to have done a “good job.” That is an assessment, again, that should have been left for others to make. However, Rajiva, even being a genuine ‘intellectual,’ unlike me, cannot realise that.

I Am No Party Man

So off he goes to keep criticising the UNP component of this government headed by Mainripala Sirisena. He is so sensitive about it that he has jumped to the conclusion in my case, namely that by my criticising the SLFP I am showing up as a UNP man.

I am no Party’s man. I can assure readers that.Any support I give to any Party or political leader is only conditional upon that entity doing what is expected of it to do. The simple reason is that one has to make such conditional decisions at some time or another in political life. On the other hand, if one gives unconditional backing, then one is a confirmed party man and an ‘apologist,’ for that party.

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