Prime Minister should take a cue from the President

Wednesday, 25 May 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A lot of people give often too much of credit to the Prime Minister for all the good things that happens while the President never gets much of the credit. All the bad things are put on the President. This not good for the Government.

It was the President who won the election and paved the way for the UNP to be reborn. Any candidate fielded by the UNP would have lost very badly. The UNP would have ended up in pieces. Instead today Ranil W is PM. He is reborn. He has become likable and wanted by the private sector.

The President has been in politics for over 40 years. He is learning fast. His speeches in Sinhala are best in class. There is not a single person who can speak like him. So he is key to this Government’s survival. Moreover he is here to stay for four more years. Therefore the Prime Minister must listen to him and take a lesson or two from him.

Take the way he has handled the IGP’s appointment. Instead of appointing his loyalist, he left it to the Constitutional Council. The Prime Minister must do the same with the current Central Bank Governor who has lost the confidence of every single person other than a few. People are openly calling for his replacement. He has become law onto himself. He has become a liability to the current Government.

What hold the Governor has on the Prime Minister only the PM knows. He has backed him unconditionally until now. The Finance Minister has washed his hands off his appointment as per the newspapers. So it is up to the Government to do what is right by the people without making a fool of the public.

The Prime Minister must realise that you cannot fool all the people all the time. Mahinda Rajapaksa learnt it the hard way. We do not wish the same for our Prime Minister.

Bert