{"id":136756,"date":"2015-01-12T00:04:31","date_gmt":"2015-01-11T18:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=136756"},"modified":"2015-01-15T05:40:25","modified_gmt":"2015-01-15T00:10:25","slug":"an-open-letter-to-a-mover-and-shaker-in-the-new-dispensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/an-open-letter-to-a-mover-and-shaker-in-the-new-dispensation\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter To \u2026( A Mover And Shaker In The \u201cNew Dispensation\u201d)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Emil+van+der+Poorten&amp;x=10&amp;y=5\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Emil van der Poorten<\/span><\/a> \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_93580\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Emil.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-93580\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-93580\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Emil-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Emil van der Poorten \" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Emil-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Emil-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-93580\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emil van der Poorten<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Dear \u2026.:<\/p>\n<p>Rather than simply sending this to you as a personal e-mail, I have chosen to have it published so that a wider readership than just you and I are privy to my thoughts which I am certain will resonate with all those seeking the dawn of a time of justice and honour in our homeland.<\/p>\n<p>I hope also that it will be read by those who might share your beliefs and approach to politics in this country and might also be in a position to influence its governance in no matter how small a measure.<\/p>\n<p>The Presidential Election is over and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Mahinda+Rajapaksa&amp;x=12&amp;y=3\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a> has been defeated and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Maithripala+Sirisena&amp;x=12&amp;y=2\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Maithripala Sirisena<\/span><\/a> elected with a clear mandate to clean up the Augean Stable that passes for \u201cgovernance\u201d in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n<p>That election, a true historical watershed in Sri Lankan history, must not be permitted to dissolve into some wishy-washy imitation of ersatz democracy.<\/p>\n<p>You are close to the \u201cmovers and shakers,\u201d at least in the United National Party, particularly because of your relationship to Ranil Wickremasinge, one of the primary king-makers in the recent effort to restore democracy in this country and now the new Prime Minister with the promise of significant executive power.<\/p>\n<p>This will constitute a public appeal to you.<\/p>\n<p>Please do not dilute what is an essential primary step in the effort to return this land to civilization and civility once again.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MR-cutout-.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-136714\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MR-cutout-.jpg\" alt=\"MR cutout\" width=\"636\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MR-cutout-.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MR-cutout--300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/MR-cutout--800x600.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/a>The investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the blatant criminality that has victimized the people of this country for too many years and from which they have had no escape must commence immediately. For reasons best known to you, you have been insulated from, at least, the worst of this injustice and violence. I hope that, in a spirit of misguided gratitude you do not, IN ANY WAY, contribute to ANY EFFORT to dilute the quest for justice in Sri Lanka in the days to come but, rather, that you will place yourself in the vanguard of those who march in solidarity with the people of this country in their quest for the restoration of democracy and democratic values.<\/p>\n<p>This is serious business as so many of us can vouch for, particularly those of us who did not then and do not now seek to advance our own fortunes by a display of loyalty to politicians, corrupt or otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>I do not seek to pre-judge your conduct. However, I have always believed that prevention is better than cure and am making this appeal to you and, through you, to those others in the United National Party in particular and the erstwhile opposition parties in general who have consistently accepted favours of one sort or another from Mahinda Rajapaksa: please DO NOT stand in the way of justice prevailing either in a misguided pursuit of some sort of <em>Ahimsa,<\/em> in gratitude for favours granted or in order to buy \u201cinsurance\u201d if or when Mahinda Rajapaksa or those of similar persuasion return to power.<\/p>\n<p>I am not in a minority of one in promising you that, should you fail to fulfill your duty by this country and all that is decent, fair and just, that you will be measured with the same yardstick as those who\u2019ve raped and pillaged our homeland for far too long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":93580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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