‘Why don’t you improve your media image…?’
This is a question posed to Ranil by a journalist one day.
Leaders and governments that have been inflated by the media are similar to balloons. A small incident like a needle, no matter how exaggerated by the media, explodes. That is exactly what happened to Dudley, Premadasa, and Chandrika…’
This was Ranil’s response. He made this remark while serving as the leader of the opposition. Ranil, who was like this then, now is completely reliant on the media, as is the government. Verite research is the best example.
‘From the time of ‘Aragalaya,’ Verite research was used to conduct research on people’s pulses. Ranil was elected president in July 2022. After Ranil took office in October 2022, the Verite research opinion poll recorded 10% of people’s satisfaction with the government. This means that 90% of people dislike the government.
At the end of Ranil’s first year as President, Verite research shows that people have a 20% favourable opinion of the government. This means that despite eliminating oil and gas shortages, lowering oil prices, lowering gas prices, lowering flower prices, lowering milk powder prices, and halting power outages, only 20% of people like the government and 80% dislike it.
Verite research is very peculiar one, hide the percentage that dislikes the government. Highlight the like percentage as increased from 10% 20%, but hides 79% still dislike the government.
The institutes that conduct opinion polls in Sri Lanka are peculiar. They hold referendums to keep the government in power happy and to attract foreign investment. Even when the roads were blocked by oil, petrol and milk powder queues in October 2021, these polling agencies reported that 40% of the public believed Sri Lanka’s economy was doing well. All polling agencies in Sri Lanka predicted that the UNP would win the general election in 1994. Prior to the 2015 presidential election, all polling companies in Sri Lanka predicted that Mahinda would easily win.
Verite research report the people’ liking to the government has increased up to 20% because they are unable to hide the truth. At the end Verite research issued a media statement governments liking of the people has doubled. Sri Lankan media too hide the 79% dislike and beat the drum claiming 20% like.
The fact that 79% of the population dislikes the government demonstrates that people in Sri Lanka today have little faith in the media. Given the way the Sri Lankan media has portrayed the government, 100% of the Sri Lankan people should support the government. The reason for this is that 98% of the country’s media believes the government is good. Regardless of what Verite Research tries to hide, 79% of the people in this country accept that the media in this country is lying.
The same media said Gotabaya sir is excellent, the same media said Ranil Wickramasinghe is a traitor, and these media only saw Ranil’s good after he lost his parliamentary seat in 2020. At the moment, these media see Ranil as the best because, for the past 30 years since 1994, the way they have attacked the opposition has made them fear that if they gain power, they will be destroyed. They liked the Ranil-Rajapaksa marriage because Ranil protected both the Rajapakses and them.
Ranil is now contemplating how he will gain his way through the media that has attacked him. But Ranil has forgotten about the balloon story. Ranil is no longer a media balloon, but rather a media parachute.
During the 2015 presidential election, the media pushed Maithripala to the wall. When Maithripala became president, everyone expected him to destroy the media. However, all of the media gathered around Maitri to attack Ranil at the request of the Rajapaksas.
When the bond deal between Maithri and Ranil was attacked, the media exaggerated Maithri unimaginably. While the media inflated Maithrie’s image, it also inflated Mahinda and Gota’s. Maitri’s balloon was finally deflated, and Mahinda’s and Gota’s balloons were released into the sky. Now that the ‘aragalaya’ has crushed Mahinda and Gota’s images, the media has gotten excited and bloated Ranil at Rajapaksa’s request.
Bandaranaike’s People’s United Front Coalition was the first in Sri Lankan politics to capitalise on propaganda in 1956. They sullied the image of their adversary, Sir John Kotalawala, by using political propaganda informally. The ‘Marasena’ poster against Sir John was effective. J.R. used propaganda more deftly and formally than Bandaranaike in 1977. The family tree worked wonders against the Bandaranaikes. Mrs. Bandaranaike, who was defeated in 1977 and was in opposition at the time, gave an excellent account of the campaign during the 1978 budget debate.
Speaker, this government is run by the media. The Janata Dal government in India is also run by the media. There was a good cartoon in an Indian media about the Janata Dal government in India. That government is selling lies to the people like a company that sells a car without an engine to the people. This government is like that…’
Mrs. B was correct. JR’s’seven years curse’ on Mrs B was returned to the JR-Premadasa government as a ’17 years curse’. JR stated during the 1977 election that Mrs. B murdered the youth of this country. Premadasa yelled angrily, “Beauty queen Premawathi Manamperi was murdered” In response to a ‘terror’ slogan aimed at Mrs. B in 1994, the Bandaranayakes were able to retaliate against JR and Premadasa.
After 1994, Chandrika and Mangala maliciously used the state media for political propaganda. Ranil can’t, Ranil the Tiger, Ranil the Traitor and other publicity tricks ruined Ranil’s image. Finally, both of them joined Ranil saying that Ranil is good.
In 2015, Maithri-Ranil and Mangala teamed up to turn the Rajapaksa into thieves. How popular this thief trap was, there was a wave of drama about the need for a new thief. But in the end, the Rajapaksas used the media beautifully to christen Ranil as a bond thief. In the end, the Rajapaksas gave the presidency to bank thief Ranil.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, who held a rally calling Premadasa the murderer of 1992, dressed to Premadasa to win the 2005 presidential election. Even the media said Premadasa murderer. After many years of Premadasa’s murder, the media said that the country needs a Premadasa.
This is what happens when the media is used to make thieves and make lies.
