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| Thursday, 26 February 2004 |
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Politics | |
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| Running commentary at the CMC grounds counters UNP big-wigs' speeches! Jostling among the crowd that had gathered at the Colombo Municipal Council premises Sunday to report on the Special National Convention of the UNP, I found myself amidst a group of party supporters, giving a ball by ball, running commentary of the speeches coming over the amplifiers. Sunday's meeting at Town Hall was the opening innings of the UNP in the run up to the General Elections - 2004 but most city dwellers, did not seem to know. When Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe began addressing, there was an anxious silence. We will win this election with an overwhelming majority, Wickremesinghe announced. But how? Came the question from an unofficial commentator, seated amongst the audience, within my ear's reach. How can any party get an overwhelming majority, under the PR system? 'Ah, that's how party leaders speak! Another voice retorted. The self-appointed commentator continued commenting to a small crowd around him. "Yes Ronnie has come from nowhere! He was not sure of getting his nomination in the Alliance, and the UNP wants to project its image depending on these nobodies with no votes or base, when others have washed their hands off them. At every election, these nobodies having betrayed us earlier on several occasions replace the committed UNPers. If not for S.B, Mahinda, Rajitha and Ravi hammering the President, when presiding over the Cabinet, UNP would have gone on for three more years," the commentator added. Just as the commentary ceased for a while, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe's speech continued over the air, with the PM saying, "we tried hard to genuinely cohabit with the President when she dissolved Parliament." The commentary soon resumed, "see, wisdom of genuine cohabitation dawned on the PM only when dissolution became a reality!" 'People are not ready to believe that the UNP tried to cohabit genuinely with the President. They think the PM mishandled by allowing the new comers to the UNP to run the Party. Those who came to the UNP from the PA never wanted to cohabit, the sharp shooter went on. "No one is now thinking of all these, they are asking, what happened to the monies saved from the war front? Where did the Rs. 75 billion allocated for war every year go? Why did the UNP fail to manage the cost of living? UNP's Karu Jayasuriya was then speaking of Rs. 600 million being wasted on the elections. "Yes", came the response from the sharp shooter. "That is not even one billion, compared to the Rs. 150 billion, we should have saved over the last two years!" With one businessman along diddling a state bank for over Rs. 300 million and complaints of bribery running over Rs. 2,000 million, against the former Ministers, it is absurd to talk of the expenses involved in getting the people's mandate. Rajitha Senaratne was heard saying, "If we are elected to power, we will definitely not cohabit with the President." There is no question about it. The young smart educated-looking commentator was now at peace. "This man Rajitha tried hard to cohabit with the President by blasting her at every turn. He is the only Mahattaya to tell the truth, he added, to the acknowledging response of his mini-audience. |
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