Mangala Samaraweera also died of Covid infection at an unexpected moment, once again reiterating the dangers of Covid disease.
Although not closely associated, I considered Mangala as my political friend. Although we have not spoken to each other for years at various times, especially during his tenures as Minister and whether we met or not, there was no lack of friendship between us. Mangala was a good friend to me and many others. Many admired him for his humility, openness and straightforwardness, and for his courage.
He also had the distinction of understanding and admittting the political mistakes and shortcomings of his past and trying to correct them. A significant number of people gathered around Mangala because of the same quality that I do not see among today’s politicians.
From the various statements made by many who were shocked and hurt about Mangala’s sudden departure, it is clear how much impact he has had on these people. During my lifetime, I can hardly remember a time when people were really shocked after the death of a politician.
However, I did not see any such grief over Mangala’s death among some of Mangala’s friends in the Matara area, who in the past claimed to be Mangala supporters.
It is said that in his early days as the inaugural Minister, he provided government jobs to more than 3,000 families in the Matara District. After Ronnie de Mel, only Mangala has done much for Matara. Mangala did a significant amount of work in Matara for the beautification and development of Matara city including the Matara main bus stand, post complex, cultural center and new hospital, renovation of Matara beach, Nilwala Bridge and river bank design.
So, it is a question of how many people in Matara were with Mangala’s politics, no matter how hard he worked. This is clear from the percentage of votes he received in the last election. No matter how much work he did for the country through his ministerial posts, how much development he did for Matara, how many people he employed, only a few of them dealt with Mangala’s political policies.
Moreover, some of his constituents in Matara were not happy with some of Mangala’s remarks, especially his sharp criticism of some clergymen, include the statement that “this country is not a Sinhala-Buddhist state only” and his bold statements on minority rights and human rights, as well as on areas where ordinary politicians are afraid to speak out in public, such as the rights of the LGBT community. His bold statements in this regard were not so visible to some of the voters in Matara whom he represented.
He also spoke openly about sexuality. At times, even when tribal politicians tried to ridicule Mangala’s sexual behavior; he boldly expressed his views and made statements about his sexual behavior in Parliament as well as in the media. It is questionable whether the local politicians in Matara had such an understanding of Mangala’s open statements.
Some residents of Matara who are friends of Mangala as well as mine said that he could not get the Matara votes. They stated that these statements were correct in Colombo but not here. Even his local political allies told Mangala to be careful when making such statements, especially during election seasons.
But Mangala did not pay much attention to any of these ideas. He also gave the same speech in Matara as he did in Colombo. Without thinking about the election, he continued to work for his policies. He stood for it. Due to this, Mangala, who was number one in the Matara district list, had to step down.
Meanwhile, some local politicians in Matara who did not understand Mangala’s political approach gradually distanced themselves from him. However, realizing Mangala’s modern political approach, a significant number of people from different parts of Sri Lanka gathered around Mangala. Due to the new discussion and the creation of a new culture there, Mangala gradually moved away from the traditional politics of Matara.
Mangala gradually moved away from monotonous and traditional political activities in Matara such as jobs, transfers and promotions, subsidies, contracts and other administrative issues. He was also reluctant to hold public days where the above questions were raised. Under these circumstances, Mangala resigned from these process, realizing that winning an election in an area like Matara and acting on his political policies could not be done at the same time. It was a very important decision that he made politically.
I also saw some of the weaknesses in Mangala, who was such a talented, brave, mature politician. The first is his lack of concern for his physical health. He did not change that policy even in such a deadly epidemic situation. The other serious weakness, I see, is the devastation inflicted on him personally and the country in general by his short-sighted attempts at political experimentation. Many of them have not yet been reinstated.
In the political history as far as I know, Mr. Somyamoorthy Thondaman in CWC was known as the’ King Maker ‘. In the past, no one could form a government without his help.
But later Mangala inherited the title of ‘King – Maker’. Mangala’s contribution to the formation of new governments in 1994, 2005 and 2015 was particularly noteworthy. Without his contribution, it would have been very difficult to form such governments.
Many who were aware of Mangala’s politics were puzzled by his contribution to bringing Mahinda Rajapaksa to power in 2005 and also his contribution to bringing Sajith Premadasa as the Opposition candidate in 2019.
But in a very short time, Mangala admitted that he had made a mistake and sincerely committed to correct it. In some cases, he faced great challenges despite the risk to his life. He discussed in front of his political allies that what he had done was a big political mistake. It should be acknowledged that this was a special characteristic of Mangala.
Finally; Mangala introduced a new program to help Sri Lanka recover from the abyss it had fallen into, after he leaving the traditional parliamentary political system. It can be described as a new program that goes beyond the existing party political process and mere opposition political activism. Although we have lost Mangala today, it is true that this country cannot be built in any other way except through activism in a long-term plan which is like he put forward.