{"id":118946,"date":"2014-01-26T00:30:41","date_gmt":"2014-01-25T19:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=118946"},"modified":"2014-01-31T01:41:52","modified_gmt":"2014-01-30T20:11:52","slug":"mervins-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/mervins-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Mervin\u2019s \u2018Love\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

The media loves Mervin Silva (Doctor).\u00a0 The controversial minister (\u2018maverick\u2019 to some) can always be counted on for a juicy quote even when he\u2019s not doing his best to conjure up a juicy story for the media.\u00a0 Silva is back.\u00a0 He has been re-appointed as the ruling party\u2019s Organizer of the Kelaniya electorate and few will doubt that he won\u2019t be up to the kinds of antics that made him the media\u2019s darling for quite the wrong reasons, of course.<\/p>\n

People might recall that he was removed from that post following association with a suspect in the murder of Hasitha Madawala.\u00a0 \u00a0Although the ruling party has on numerous occasions pledged to inquire into the minister\u2019s conduct, there\u2019s no evidence that any investigation was ever carried out.\u00a0 He has never been disciplined.<\/p>\n

Forget the United People\u2019s Freedom Party and its internal disciplinary issues; this individual has flouted the law in the full face of the media and in the presence of law enforcement authorities on many occasions.\u00a0 He was never arrested.\u00a0 That is an affront to the Rule of Law and moreover a scar on the democratic values that the Government is required and pledges to uphold.\u00a0 All this is known.\u00a0 The party doesn\u2019t seem to be ruffled by the history.\u00a0 As for the people, they backed him well at the last election although he had a pretty sordid history even then.\u00a0 What kind of self-inflicted scar that people\u2019s decision was is something that voters need to reflect on.\u00a0 History shows that they probably would not.\u00a0 Troublesome, to say the least.<\/p>\n

Upon his return he has said, perhaps by way of explaining party leniency, that the President loves him.\u00a0 It was reported in one newspaper in even stranger terms: \u2018The President is in love with me!\u2019\u00a0 Perhaps it is beneath the President\u2019s dignity to clarify, deny or in any other way comment on the uttering of a maverick politician, but the question of indulgence remains.<\/p>\n

Love for Mervin or even a look-away indulgence of the man is an indictment on party, party leader and a voting public.\u00a0 What it means that there\u2019s a general adoration of all things that can be detrimental to democracy and rule of law.<\/p>\n

President Rajapaksa has not declared love for Mervin Silva.\u00a0 He hasn\u2019t said he loves the maverick politician in return.\u00a0 He is not the kind of leader who believes that punishment always works, after all during his tenure over 11,000 members of a terrorist organization were reintegrated into society after giving them marketable skills to boot, a kind of measure that would horrify for example those tasked to ensure the national security of the United States of America.\u00a0 He has not declared abhorrence and that can be understood \u2013 it is not his style.<\/p>\n

Punishment and abhorrence aside, there\u2019s absolutely no logic in reinstating this individual as party organizer which clearly means that the party which the President heads believes he has the credentials to represent the UPFA in Kelaniya.\u00a0 If that\u2019s not a sign of bad, bad, bad party thinking, what is?<\/p>\n

The media didn\u2019t get its monthly dose of Mervin-quotes and some may lament that.\u00a0 Society in general and the cause of democracy in particular were spared Mervin\u2019s \u2018love\u2019, though.\u00a0 Perhaps it was just too good to last.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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