Vanity of politicians!

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

I was reminded of an anecdote recounted by a good friend of mine, after reading the interesting piece by G.A.D. Sirimal, “Presidents Premadasa and Wijetunga – some personal anecdotes” (Sunday Island, October 17).

This happened when Ranasinghe Premadasa, accompanied by his wife, made an official visit as Prime Minister to the Philippines, during the period my friend was our ambassador there. As instructed by the PM’s office, he has arranged a cocktail reception in honour of the PM and his wife, at the embassy to which many VVIPs were invited. They all arrived at the appointed hour to be received by the ambassador and his wife, enjoyed the food and drinks, exchanged pleasantries and left after ninety minutes, the maximal duration of a cocktail reception.

It was only a good hour later that the Prime Minister and wife arrived at the reception, by when only the embassy staff were there to receive them. To add to the embarrassment of the Prime Minister were the colour photographs of the couple, distributed to the invitees on instructions from the PM’s office, strewn across the floor! I suppose, the ambassador could have instructed someone to collect these photographs, after the guests left and before the PM arrived.

But I did not have to ask why he did not do so because, as a fellow ‘Southerner’, I could guess. No doubt, rather than shielding the PM from reality, ‘Southern grit’ in him forced this attempt to apprehend the PM, the futility of ‘vanity projects’! Anyway, I greatly doubt whether it had any effect, as politicians are ever so convinced about their infallibility. Had Premadasa being President, my friend may well have acted differently, as he could not have risked an immediate recall!

Some of our leaders have had no concept of time and some even considered, being not punctual a virtue; a means to demonstrate their importance. Perhaps, President CBK interpreted literally the proverb popularised by the writer of Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer, “Time and tide wait for no man” and thought, as a woman, she could keep anyone waiting, even foreign dignitaries! She was never punctual and it was a common occurrence keeping crowds waiting for three to four hours. On the other extreme was JR who was on the dot, Madam Elena reputedly never delayed JR. In all fairness, it has to be admitted that President Premadasa too excelled in punctuality, when unaccompanied.

Admiring their own portraits seem to be a popular pastime of our leaders as well stated by Sirimal: “The first day I set up the office, some of the PM’s staff turned up to check whether everything was in order. One of them asked me why no portrait of the PM was not on display. I said I didn’t have one and it wasn’t a requirement. He said the PM is very particular about this and brought me a framed portrait to be displayed behind my desk. The next day I found that a clerk who was present when the PM’s people visited had garlanded the portrait. PM Premadasa used to visit every office set up for this mobile project when an oath of service (prathigna) was taken to start off proceedings. When the PM stepped into my office and I greeted him, I noticed him looking smilingly at his own portrait.”

Speaking of portraits, I well remember an episode that happened, shortly after I joined Dr N J Wallooppillai as his registrar in the Cardiology Unit foregoing my consultant physician’s post in Badulla, when Badi-ud-din Mahmud, the Minister of Education was a patient in the Coronary Care Unit. Unlike other patients, who had a photograph of their children or family on the bedside table, the Minister had a photograph of himself! I still remember the glow, full of pride, that descended on the Minister’s face when one of the senior house officers, on the ward-round with us, commented “Sir, you look like a General”. I am pretty certain that the SHO who made that comment was Dr Kumar Gunawardane, who ended up being a Cardiologist in Australia. Needless to say, that after the ward round we all had a hearty laugh about the vanity of this politician!

I can never forget another comment made by Mahmud during his stay. He told me “Doctor, I have done my duty, by my community, by getting Sirimavo’s agreement to allow Muslim children to study in English”. With this boast, he boldly indicated to me that he had imparted an unfair advantage, misusing his position as a minister. Unfortunately, I could not say what I thought, not because he was a minister but because I could not afford to be rude to a patient. I doubt his having noticed the wry smile on my face. Reconciliation has become a difficult process in Sri Lanka because the majority has been undermined by the actions of our own like this, in addition to the British policy of ‘divide and rule’ which had preferential treatment of minorities as a major pillar of success! Unfortunately, Mrs B lacked the political acumen to see through this proposal. Or, maybe she did not care; after all, she educated her children in English, using private tutors, whilst the majority was flying her husband’s ‘Sinhala only’ flag!

The election of Premadasa as President was a mini-social revolution and he had the unique opportunity to nail the coffin of the caste system and portray Sri Lanka for what it is: The land of opportunity. Instead of showing pride that he could achieve all by attending an evening school, he attempted to align himself with a well-known Christian School, which succeeded to a great extent. He wanted to rewrite his family history. I remember the remarks of a relative of mine, who was a well-known lawyer and a fine Sinhala journalist well known for sarcasm, as if they were made yesterday. When we visited his place, he said “Balanna Upul, Mu mata boru pothak liyanna kiyanawa”. When he told me that this chap wants him to write a book of lies, I asked him who and the reply was ‘Premadasa’! He explained to me that he was requested to write a new biography changing historical details, particularly the family background. He refused and died a poor man. Had he obliged, he would have been rich and powerful, heading a few corporations!

This, sadly, is the fate of Sri Lanka, driven by politicians loaded with vanity. It was so refreshing that, when the present President got elected, he ordered that his photographs be not displayed. It was reported that a portrait of his adorns the new defence complex, which is understandable and justified if not repeated. Do hope, it is not the beginning of the end and he does not fall in to the rut of some of his predecessors!