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If ever there was a contest to determine the best comedian amongst the members of the Cabinet, the accolade would undoubtedly be conferred on Wimal Weerawansa.

Even though many of the Cabinet members are all comedians, Weerawansa is a clear cut winner in comic acting; so much so that he can be placed on par with veteran comedians such as Rowan Atkinson and Robin Williams.

While he is notorious for spending twenty to thirty thousand rupees each month for the maintenance of his hair, he was also publicly shamed for having toured Disneyland and living a royal lifestyle.

His comedy is so supreme that local veterans like Freddie Silva and Eddie Jayamanne would have been out of job had they still been around.
Weerawansa has displayed yet another of his latest comic acts for the viewing pleasure of the general public these days.
While this is not his debut comedy, it is one which has gained much laughter and uproar from the audience. Notably, his entire political career has consisted of an array of comedies.

While holding office as a Cabinet Minister Weerawansa has chosen to publicly criticise certain efforts of the government.
While we concur of his right to do so, we are sceptical of how virtuous and genuine his performance was. In the backdrop of the country’s social, political and economic terrain Weerawansa’s act spurs a questionable intent.

Through the projection of a bogus development, the country continues to suffer at the hands of its tyrannical and artful rulers. With corruption on a steep incline, the government is facing doldrums in the areas of transportation, health, education and law-and-order on a local platform, while the global playing field is no better and possesses an even more challenging turf.

In the face of this disintegration and failure, it is evident that the government is battling its downfall.
All this has given root to severe public upheaval and the masses have come to discern that it is time for a cleansing and transition in the ethos of politics in the country. Hence Weerawansa’s comic episode is undoubtedly arguable in the light of this current context.
The world we live in today is media centric and the public is heavily influenced by the steering of the media on a day to day life.

The entire media market place, however, has not been politically favourable to the government in the recent past and as a result the government has received a tremendous amount of negative media momentum.

In an attempt to temporarily mask the depth and breadth of these issues, Weerawansa was employed in the role of ‘acting comedian’ to enact a script in a scrupulous effort to propagate attention towards the comic act.

The villain in Weerawansa’s drama is no other than the Secretary to the Treasury Dr. P.B. Jayasundara. Plausibly, Weerawansa’s acting is first-class and sources confirm that he even adds on to the script as he presents it, so as to give an exemplary performance as required.

However, it is evident that Weerawansa’s plot was assembled free of any understanding or rationalisation of P.B. Jayasundera or his capacity as Secretary Treasury.
Dr. Jayasundera receives his direction from the President and under no circumstance does he bypass the President’s authority. Even a toddler could easily comprehend this mechanism of power.

In the event of Dr. Jayasundera surpassing the President, however, each and every decision on a Monetary Policy would require the prior approval of the Cabinet for furtherance.

Moreover, contrary to Weerawansa’s public oration, he has never opposed Jayasundara’s direction, at Cabinet meetings.
Furthermore, what is dubious is that the President through all this comic drama, elected to sit back and watch, as a high ranking official of his government was brutally attacked by a multi barrel shotgun, rather than intervene on Dr. Jayasundera’s behalf.

 

While we concur of his right to do so, we are sceptical of how virtuous and genuine his performance was. In the backdrop of the country’s social, political and economic terrain Weerawansa’s act spurs a questionable intent

As with all of Weerawansa’s dramas in the past, this too will surely end in disaster.

Recalling Weerawansa’s hunger strike four years back, let us remember the detrimental outcomes the country faced as a result of his innuendos.
The allegations of pulling the plug on the IMF and boycotting US produce were all propagated by Weerawansa.

His entire political career has been a sham. While articulating a Socialist middle-class political agenda, he has not cut back on his lavish lifestyle which exploits several lakhs of public monies for his official-bungalow electricity bill alone.

While he is notorious for spending twenty to thirty thousand rupees each month for the maintenance of his hair, he was also publicly shamed for having toured Disneyland and living a royal lifestyle. Further, let us not forget the millions he spent on the construction of bus stands as well.
A couple of years back, a media agency posted large cut-outs of Weerawansa across the city, portraying him as a colour-changing lizard.

This comparison is further established in present times, with his latest drama. Weerawansa and his allies allege that these political assertions were true and honest.

We in turn challenge him to truly assert his disposition by giving up his Cabinet Ministry and all ministerial benefits for this so-called honest cause of his.

Significantly, the righteous Weerawansa, did not maintain this same disposition when he voted for the Casino Bill.