Political Stage :

Campaigns gather momentum

by Scorpio

Following up on President Kumaratunga's pledge of support to Premier Mahinda Rajapakse in his Presidential bid the UPFA nominee received another boost to his campaign with Anura Bandaranaike too joining his sister to stand by his old friend in the current race.

With the campaign gathering momentum with each passing day in the lead up to D-day, the country's voting public is bound to witness many twists and turns and surprises as the tide swings from one candidate to the other in what is certainly poised to be gripping race for the country's top job.

Bandaranaike's decision to back Rajapakse's bid in earnest could well have been anticipated to the keen political watcher with a knowledge of events affecting the SLFP in the early 80s'.

This was a time when factionalism within the party spilt the once monolithic entity in the middle with different groups pledging allegiance to different leaders. In all these battles Rajapakse stood by Bandaranaike and this relationship only strengthened with time extending to the time the party was battling over the leadership stakes.

Therefore the relationship between the duo although seeming to have suffered on the surface saw no threat of collapsing given this bond forged during the most trying times for the party.

The UNP would do well not to dismiss this factor in the traditional Bandaranaike- Rajapakse make up which dated backs to their parents the founding fathers of the SLFP.

There was much glee in the green camp following the impromptu media conference given by Bandaranaike where he made comments on Rajapakse's alliance partners.

Bandaranaike on that occasion espoused the policies of the SLFP. Barely 48 hours later Bandaranaike attended the Rajapakse campaign rally in Mirigama, an electorate nursed by the former during his days with the UNP.

At that meeting Bandaranaike not only declared his full backing for Rajapakse but also said he would ensure the latter received the highest numbers of votes from the Gampaha District over all other districts. The speech may have buoyed the spirits of SLFPers in this Bandaranaike heartland.

It no doubt sent a clear signal to the party loyalists to pull their weight behind the Rajapakse campaign.

The Rajapakse-Bandaranaike duo was also in the forefront in the creation of the "Hela" faction within the SLFP Parliament group during the late 80s. One of the most vocal members of this group Tilak Karunaratne is now a UNP frontliner. All these not doubt would have weighed in Bandaranaike's mind before he made the appearance at the well attended Mirigama rally.

Politics as they say is the arts of the possible and yesterday's foe could well be today's friend in this strange game of politics as proved by defection to the green camp of former Cricket Board boss Thilanga Sumathipala.

The move also indicates the UNP's determination to shore up its fortunes in the North Central Province where the party had always fared poorly. With Sumathipala and Sirisena Cooray put in charge of the party machinery there the greens may also be planning some muscle power in a race where every vote is going to be crucial.

This is now more the case, with a statement issued by LTTE renegade Karuna that only a candidate willing to defeat Prabhakaran's fascist rule should be elected.

Therefore the greens may well not receive the massive vote bloc it anticipates in the North-East where a more likely scenario would be a low voter turnout.

The UNP also has suffered a setback of sorts with a bulk of its Yovun Peramuna members deciding to support Rajapakse and a media briefing is to be held today announcing this decision.

All this no doubt is going to add to the new dynamics of the shifting allegiances in the current campaign scenario with also the eagerly anticipated decision of the Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera on which candidate he would be supporting to be made by the beginning of next week.

The Ven. Dhammaloka Thera, one of the star attractions in the JHU campaign at the 2004 hustings reportedly met the President early this week ostensibly to inquire about the Report on the Ven.Soma thera's death.

Complicating the matters further is a statement made to the press by Victor Hettigoda of Siddhalepa fame that he would withdraw from the race if either of the two candidates made a pledge to work for the uplift of the country.

With the undertaking being vague no candidate in his right mind would state otherwise this could well be a ploy for Hettigoda to pull out at the last moment and pledge support to one of the other candidates vindicating popular beliefs that some of the candidates are mere proxies of the two main contenders.

It may be just as well if he withdraws soon given the warning issued to candidates by the Head of the Department of Physics of the Colombo University that they are under risk of being hit by lighting during the current spell of bad weather.

This professor states that the steel mikes and other metallic objects on political stages are bound to attract lighting and warned candidates to refrain from addressing rallies during wet weather probably picturing a candidate all fire and brimstone being struck by a bolt of lightning.

Talk of stealing the thunder.