“So hang in there for the next six or eight years, keep your head above the water and the rest of you hidden. Do creative things – like undermining Namal Rajapakse’s ascendancy /figuring out how to get rid of Mervyn and Wimal – to pass the time. “

I have to defer on this. As for me, I seem to be surrounded by people who have voted for MR, will continue to support him, are blind to the emerging dictatorship and believe that he is God’s greatest gift to Sri Lanka. And I believe that these folks would also give him a resounding victory at the upcoming Parliamentary elections.

Sri-Lanka is not going to miss a bad speller like you. You are just a waste of space. Good riddance!

But this time they got it . Unfortunately they hadn’t any idea about the importance of this presidential election. They just voted according to what TNA says.

personally i think these ppl have betrayed their country and they are dishonest. each person who votes in an election, whether s/he is a card-carrying member of a party or not, does choose one party over another. while some people might choose the party because of generational family loyalty, there are a lot of people who’ll vote for the different principles each party has re: economics, foreign policy, rights, etc. each of these crossovers got into parliament because enough people out there gave them a preferential vote AFTER they first decided to vote for the UNP. this was because they wanted these men to uphold the principles propagated by the UNP. do you really think they are now representing these voters when they join a government with diametrically opposing policies and help to uphold those? each of these people thought of themselves only when they crossed over. they do not seem to realize that they are only REPRESENTATIVES of the people. they had no thought about these voters.

further when these people leave the UNP and make it weaker they’re having an effect on the country not just the party. a democracy can’t be viable without an opposition. why do you think the present government has no qualms in blatantly flouting the laws of the country? because without many of the members the UNP has nurtured over the years, the opposition in the country has become toothless.

and believe me, those hanger-ons after the liquor licenses and the special schools will certainly not be affected by cross-overs. they’ll go right over with the MPs. it’s the ordinary voters who voted for these men who get gypped.

Point ten needs a caveat, though: you won’t find anyone who voted MR a month from now, until the parliamentary election…at which the MR voters will be in your face again, tsk tsk.

I consider (being a self-righteous up-myself tosser) myself to be above petty things like party loyalty. I don’t really care what happens to UNP or the SLFP. It is the people and the principles that make these parties what they are, and I’m not one of those died in the wool plebs to be loyal to a mere name, symbol or colour. Your misguided loyalty is the same as that of a sports hooligan’s and is certainly not something to be admired.

On the other hand, I admire people like Milinda Moragoda, GL Peiris, Bandula Gunawardene, Dayan Jayatilleke, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Sarath Amunugama, and to a lesser degree, Keheliya Rambukwella, Rohitha Bogollagama and others. The party that they belong to doesn’t concern me as long as they are given the opportunity to use their skills in the government.

I don’t think they are dishonest. The majority of the educated, responsible people in Sri Lanka aren’t card carrying members of any party. We deserve the best politicians in our government. What happens to the UNP because they’ve left the party doesn’t bother me at all. The betrayal felt by the grassroots UNP cadre who want liquor licences, jobs for their children, business contracts etc once a UNP government gets elected brings no tears to my eye.

My loyalty is to Sri Lanka, and I’ve never betrayed my country, and neither have they.

Isn’t there something a little ironic about you admiring only the UNPers who’ve crossed over? You think people who will forsake party, and more importantly, the people who voted for them, for a ministerial position are to be admired? Did any of these crossovers think of consulting the people who voted for them before moving across the line? if the party leader was so dictatorial, isn’t it their duty to stay and fight it for the party and its supporters? if they don’t fight for it, who will?

you admire dishonor? well, no wonder you’re such a fan of this government!