A STORY OF TWO POLITICIANS: FATHER AND SON FROM TWO EXTREMES
A politician with humble beginnings
Wijesinghe Jayaweera Mudiyanselage Lokubandara (05th August to 14th February 2021) also known as W.J.M Lokubandara or Wijamu was a humble politician devoid of confrontational politics. Mostly, WJM Lokubandara was a respected politician who held a number of high profile ministerial positions from 1977 until his untimely death in February 2021 succumbing to Covid-19 at the age of 79 years. He had his primary and secondary education at Yahalabedde School and Bandarawela Central College and entered University of Peradeniya for higher studies. He completed his master’s degree at University of London as an external student and consummated his studies at Law College of Sri Lanka, thus becoming an attorney at law. He started his career as a translator for the government of Sri Lanka prior to becoming a practicing lawyer by profession and a legal draftsman before his sojourn in politics. He entered the parliament in 1977 representing Haputale constituent when United National Party (UNP) secured a landslide victory at general elections of that year. During two successive regimes of J. R Jayawardene’s government lasted almost 10 years, he was only a backbencher in the parliament. In 1989, under the Executive President of Ranasinghe Premadasa, he was appointed the Minister of Indigenous Medicine, a non-cabinet minister for the first time. Subsequently, he ascended to a cabinet ministerial position, holding the portfolio of Cultural Affairs, Education and Media.
During his tenure in this capacity, he took steps to resurrect the old Sinhala heritage and the language. He introduced green porridge (Kola Kenda) and herbal tea to the society at large including schools, ministries and even parliament. He was instrumental in carrying out a research on multitude of Ola leaf manuscripts written on indigenous medicine. Being a staunch supporter of the native language, he worked hard to declare 02nd of March as Sinhala Language Day. He projected him as a self-proclaimed Sinhala scholar and loved Sinhala literary work. He was a writer who compiled a number of books including novels, a lyricist as well as a poet. He also had an in-depth knowledge of Pali and Sanskrit languages to his credit. In 2001, when UNP formed a new government, he was given the ministerial post of Justice, Law Reforms, National Integration and Buddha Sasana. In 2004, he despite being from the opposition, fought a keenly contested secret vote to become the Speaker of the parliament which position he held until 2010. At the tail of his political career, he was more aligned towards Mahinda Rajapakse regime which championed the national cause ending 30 year war at that juncture and was subsequently appointed the Governor of Sabaragamuwa Province from 2010 to 2015 on his retirement from parliamentary politics. He led an exemplary married life with his loving wife Malathi Lokubandara and had three sons by the names of Rashmin, Udith and Damith.
Upbringing of his offspring: A Paradox of his very character
Hon. W.J.M Lokubandara, may be due to the reason that he had the convenience of attending the parliamentary sessions and ministerial business in Colombo, took up residence in a suburb township of Nugegoda. Therefore, his all three sons were brought up in a metropolitan environment, contrary to his humble beginnings in the rural Haputale town. In spite of being a Sinhala language maestro and a former education minister of some sweeping powers and also for the reasons best known to him, he opted for his sons to be educated in English medium instead. So, the man in news, W.J Udith Sanjaya Lokubandara, his second son, had his education at Lyceum International School, Nugegoda, which is a leading network of international schools in Sri Lanka. Upon finishing school, he followed in his father’s footsteps and was enrolled at University of London to read for a Diploma in Economics. He studied in multiple fronts and became a member of professional bodies of LCCI and ACIM of Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. Unlike his two siblings, he showed a keen interest in joining the foray of local politics, maybe with the blessings of his politically veteran father. He was approached by the UNP initially, offering him the post of the Organizer for Haputale, the native place of his father. Instead, he settled for the option provided by the rival party SLFP to become the District Organizer for Badulla District. So, he became an ally of the Rajapakse regime. In 2010, he successfully contested the general elections and entered the august assembly, marking his entry into active politics. However, he failed to secure a seat in the parliament in the 2015 and 2020 general elections.
Despite his failure in politics, then President Mahinda Rajapakse acknowledged Udith Lokubandara’s allegiance to the Rajapakse clan thereby appointing him as one of his private secretaries. In the aftermath, he was given the post of the Parliamentary Secretary of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse in the current government. With the compliments of Rajapaksa, his political career had been rather smooth and rewarding. He has been the darling of Mahinda Rajapakse. But, Udith Lokubandara’s fortunes twisted unexpectedly on one fine day recently as he was accused of syphoning off funds of none other than his political guru, Mahinda Rajapakse, using an ATM card. As reported in the media, he had embezzled money to the tune of 35 Million Sri Lankan Rupees. On the contrary, according to internet sources, it was nearly 400 Million in Sri Lankan Rupees. Nobody knows what version of the story is accurate. Ironically, it was said that Udith Lokubandara had been pilfering funds off his powerful master for a number of years since the latter was the Executive President. It is hard to believe how Mahinda Rajapakse didn’t notice his card usage all these years. According to a communique issued by the Prime Minister’s office, it was asserted that these monies were the salaries drawn by Mahinda Rajapakse since he was the President and Prime Minister up to now. So, it can be assumed that Mahinda Rajapakse has not touched his funds accumulated from his monthly salaries. So, how did he live thus far without a steadfast income source? Meantime, one media report hailed Udith Lokubandara for robbing the ‘robber barons’ while Mahinda Rajapakse branded him as a ‘stupid devil’ in an open media forum recently. However, the matter was amicably settled with Lokubandara offering to return the money. Mahinda Rajapakse also indicated that he doesn’t mull legal action. Nevertheless, Rs 35 is usually a big money for any Sri Lankan but there was no big fuss about the matter, again may be due to the reasons best known to Rajapaksa.
