By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

It is no secret that the JVP/NPP government came to power mostly by slinging mud at their opponents, no doubt justified to some extent. There were gross exaggerations, claiming that nothing positive has happened since independence and tarring all politicians with the brush of corruption! It looks as if it wants to remain in power using the same tactic probably because it finds it difficult to keep to some of the promises it made to gain power. The sheer eloquence displayed by the president during the election campaigns seem to be coming to haunt him. On many things, which he stated could be reversed by a stroke of a pen are still pending and sceptics are questioning whether the president has misplaced the pen, just like the former speaker has misplaced his academic certificates!

Distortions continue to be the order of the day and as mentioned in the editorial “From ‘chits’ to ‘lists’ (The Island, 1 March), lists are being used to attack opponents, some of whom have already received ‘political punishment’ from the voters. What is worse are the unfair comparisons made, well exemplified by the list of expenses for foreign travel by presidents. The government made the crucial mistake of not limiting it to former presidents but in an attempt to create a whiter-than-white image of the president, it added unbelievably low cost to the present president’s three foreign trips. It is very likely that the expenses for the former presidents were for the entourage whereas for the present president, it was only for himself! Part of the low cost was attributed to the president receiving free tickets for two trips. I am sure if the tickets were provided by the inviting governments, it would have been stated as such and one must assume that they were from other sources, which raises further questions; who are these generous guys and why did they do it? Reminds one of the saying “There is nothing called a free lunch!”

More importantly, one fervently hopes that the reverse does not happen; from going from ‘lists’ to ‘chits’ again, which would be a disaster. It was a disaster that cost thousands of lives and remembered with trepidation by those who were lucky enough to survive. A colleague of mine has forwarded a photograph of one of these notorious ‘chits’ sent during the second JVP uprising, which is in circulation in social media now, and called me later to have a chat. I was taken aback when he told me that he had them pasted daily on his door, as he worked part-time for the army. He had torn them away but on learning this, his superior medical officer had advised him to leave the country, for the sake of his young family, which he did. He worked in New Zealand a year before coming to the UK. Do hope this does not happen again but the video circulating showing a party-man advising a villager not to post adverse comments on the government, raises the possibility that ‘chits’ may raise its ugly head again!

I am not sure whether it was the president who stated that fuel prices could be brought down immediately by cutting off commission charged by the previous minister but the widely anticipated fuel price reduction never materialised. Whoever that made the accusation owes an apology to the previous minister.

However, I am sure the president gave repeated assurances that Arjuna Mahendran would be brought back to stand trial for the Bond Scam. He told cheering audiences that he could do it with a stroke of his pen, in spite former president Sirisena claiming that he placed more than 2,500 signatures for this purpose. It did not succeed and, instead, Mahendran dared by publishing two letters in The Island, giving his full postal address in Singapore, the moment Ranil became president. He would not have done so without knowing that he would be protected. It is a pity AKD did not appraise himself of facts before giving categorical assurances. What is the government’s position now? “We have encountered some legal difficulties but don’t worry, we will try him in absentia” according to the cabinet spokesman, which is hilarious!

The Mahendran episode raises another interesting question. There are droves who sing hosannas for Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew. Whilst not trying to belittle what LKY achieved for Singapore, I have always questioned whether he is a true democrat. He was far from it and what he did to his opponents is conveniently forgotten because of the massive transformation he engineered. Coming to the present, much is made of Singapore’s anti-corruption measures. There are regular reports of politicians being jailed for corruption and many contend that Singapore thrives as it has eradicated corruption. This raises the question why it is refusing to extradite a Singapore citizen who is charged with corruption? Is it that Singapore’s anti-corruption drive operates only when it is an internal matter? Is it that Singapore does not care when one of its citizens takes on an extremely responsible job in a foreign country and indulges in corrupt activities? Is this not the height of hypocrisy?

Although Gotabaya is hauled over the coals for making the country bankrupt, the rot started with Yahapalanaya and the Bond Scam is one of the major factors. Mahendran, who lacked any suitable experience, was imported on false pretences by Ranil but, interestingly the Handunnetti COPE report did not apportion any blame to Ranil. As all investigations laid the blame on Mahendran, who left the country to attend a wedding according to Ranil, not being able to bring him back is a gross injustice. Of course, the government spokesman had a wonderful solution; “As it is his friend, Ranil should bring him back. Then we will prosecute him”! If Mahendran saga is not resolved, it would be a shame for our government and would tarnish the reputation of Singapore, as well.

It is high time the government stopped slinging mud at opponents and start taking actions to solve the problems affecting the masses, the most important being the cost of living.