Brothers combined to save motherland

A historical perspective:

Wijitha Nakkawita

Elections, campaigns, debates and haranguing are some of the things people witness many times over. At present we are witnessing a Presidential election campaign with the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa contesting. The two opposition political parties UNP and JVP though strange bedfellows are backing the New Democratic Front candidate Sarath Fonseka.

Among the main allegations the Opposition, mainly the UNP, had brought out against President Mahinda Rajapaksa was that he had brought in the members of his family to positions in the government. They repeated the allegation in the Parliament and is now often heard on the election campaign propaganda of the NDF candidate Sarath Fonseka.

Of all political parties the UNP is the least qualified to make that allegation or in the alternative the present UNP leader and it appears his party people have very short memories. The other possibility is they are pretending amnesia. The very first UNP government led by Premier D. S. Senanayake had not less than three members of the Senanayake family in the first government of 1948. D. S. Senanayake was Premier his son Dudley Senanayake was the Agriculture Minister and his brother’s son R. G. Senanayake was the Trade Minister.

Even J .R. Jayewardene when he became Prime Minister in 1977 had brought in his young nephew Ranil Wickremesinghe into his cabinet as the Minister of Education and Youth Affairs. Though Jayewardene once said he had no heirs or a clan to protect he cleverly placed his nephew in an important position in his government. The tradition of bringing in family members or kinsfolk into positions of the government cannot be blamed on President Mahinda Rajapaksa as something he alone had done.

When John Kennedy was elected US President he had appointed his brother Robert Kennedy as the Attorney General and the Kennedy Family had also Senator Edward Kennedy holding an important position in the government. But neither the US media nor the opposition politicians of US had been critical of the Kennedy family then or now on that account. The surviving Edward Kennedy became quite famous among the US citizens and was recognized as a congressman who had served the country well for many decades till he died recently.

If we took India the first Premier Pundit Jawharlal Nehru nominated his sister Smt. Vijayalakshmi Pundit to a high position in the United Nations. His daughter Smt. Indira Gandhi was associated with the father in politics and succeeded him. She had her son Sanjay Gandhi in the congress party as heir apparent to her. When Sanjay died in an aircraft accident her other son Rajiv Gandhi succeeded the brother and became the leader of the Congress party and Prime Minister.

If we look at the Rajapaksa family during the early 20th Century D. M. Rajapaksa was the leader accepted by the people of Hambantota District and he led the struggles and agitations of the people of his district.

He was elected to the State Council and when he died the people wanted his brother D. A. Rajapaksa to contest the parliamentary election. It was on the request of his people that D .A. Rajapaksa contested the parliamentary election and won that election. His two brothers George Rajapaksa and Lakshman Rajapaksa were also elected to Parliament. Next the people elected Mahinda Rajapaksa and later Chamal Rajapaksa and Nirupama Rajapaksa to Parliament.

The people had elected seven members of the Rajapaksa family from the early 20th Century up to now and no other family of Sri Lanka had seven persons elected to those positions. It is clear that the people of Hambantota had reposed their faith in the Rajapaksas and voted for all the seven members of that family during the last seven decades.

The opposition especially the UNP cannot blame the President for having his two brothers in important positions as he needed them especially when a terrorist war was raging when he was elected. Some politicians suffer from political amnesia especially when they are politically bankrupt. It is fortunate to have capable members of the same family in high positions of a government. Like the Kennedys, Nehrus/Gandhis or even Senanayakes other families may not have capable people.

One is also reminded of the early days of the independence struggle when the Sri Lankan youth educated abroad became fascinated with the international communist movement started the left political parties like Lanka Sama Samaja Party. The founder leader of the party was Philip Gunawardena.

His brother Robert Gunawardena, cousin Reggie Perera and niece Vivienne Gunawardena as well as his wife Kusuma Gunawardena were all leading members of that party. Neither the working class that supported the LSSP nor the people who elected most of them except Reggie Perera who was nominated as a Senator called it family bandying as each one of their own right served the people and courageously led working class and political struggles for the people.

Now the Rajapaksa brothers the opposition called Sahodara Samagama are united as one. That could be an eyesore for some politicians who may not have brothers like them. But we have enough historical instances in our country like the Senanayake brothers D.S and F.R Senanayake or Philip and Robert Gunawardena or if we go as far back as the first century BC Dutta Gamani and Saddhatissa. Of course all those brothers too were united in good purpose.