Ex-Presidents Pout Over Seating Snub at BMICH

 

Colombo – It appears that the country's former Presidents are finding it harder to relinquish the perks of power than they did to govern responsibly. In a curious twist of entitlement-meets-insecurity, a handful of ex-heads of state have reportedly taken great offence at not being given front-row thrones at a recent event at the BMICH. The grievance? Not enough cushion for their legacy—or their egos.

Sources close to the Daily Mirror whispered that Mahinda Rajapaksa, Chandrika Bandaranaike, Maithripala Sirisena, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and even the current President, Ranil Wickremesinghe (in his former capacity), were all invited to the event. But alas, scandal struck—not over policy, not over corruption, but over chairs.

“It was disrespectful,” one former President complained anonymously, possibly while adjusting a slightly less-than-luxurious seatbelt in a downgraded vehicle. “We expect to be seated like royalty. After all, we made the country what it is today,” he added, apparently without irony.

Indeed, they did.

In the same breath, these self-styled patriots have vowed to boycott future government events—including the War Heroes’ Commemoration—citing this unbearable insult to their egos. It's the kind of protest that proves even former commanders-in-chief can throw tantrums fit for a preschool playground.

Adding to their woes, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration has dared to trim their sprawling list of benefits. Fewer security details, less vehicle access, and a dent in allowances—it's almost as if someone thinks being “former” means something less than “forever elite.”

A political insider quipped, “These are the same men and women who steered Sri Lanka to economic collapse, asking for respect and red carpets. What’s next? Presidential pensions for running out of ideas?”

To some, the whole debacle is the perfect metaphor for Sri Lanka’s political drama: A group of leaders who couldn’t lead the country out of debt, now outraged they can’t lead the queue to the buffet line.