In plain, according to the constitution the government should have a general election in mid 2010, results of which will depend on the performance of the individual candidates where elimination of the Tigers can not give solace to all 225 candidates. The cabinet is a salad bowl with all the government supporting MPs are ministers - of inconceivable portfolios.

The dilemma of the president is, those who crossed from the opposition to stabilise the government can not be left in the lurch but be given nomination in the general election.

This may antagonize the UPFA leaders of the respective areas and also a doubt loomed whether the party die-hards would back these pole-vaulters without saying, you came, you got, you go.

To get over all these anticipated complications, with also a hidden motive and a belief that the light weight UNP leader would not be a match at all to a heavy weight boxer like him, he called for the presidential bout, crowing like Muhammad Ali “I am the Champ”, in his words ‘sacrificing’ two more years of presidency to seek the unified verdict from the whole country, referring to the Northeast population that was prevented, [by whom for what?], from voting in 2005.

But the real theory is - you buy the cow, the calf will follow, meaning a victory in the presidential election will automatically pave way for a gainful success in the general election. A Tamil saying is “Chetty [a money lender cum trader] would not go in the river for nothing”.

Besides an immediate general election followed by the presidential win would push the opposition parties, with both hands tied behind, to the wall - literally without financial resources and credibility. That way even a two third majority could be possible, not to abolish the presidency but to extend the term or political life of the present president in what ever form advantageous to the ruling family. He seemed to have rubbed the wrong side of Aladdin’s lamp.

For the first time in Sri Lanka, this is an election fought solely on personalities not policies. Mud slinging is the main criteria. When the president’s camp is concerned those who are with them are patriots and others are traitors. That way they ardently follow president George W. Bush’s political dictum: “if you are not with us you are with them.” Need not I emphasise here that the General is dubbed as yesterday’s hero - today’s traitor.

I expected this unsavory slogan to have been showered on him if he had met the United States Department of Homeland Security that called him to appear for a voluntary interview on 4th November in Oklahoma City with a view to use him "as a source against human rights violations done by Secretary/Defense", as per Lankan media.

Lanka, panicking and crying foul that no agency had any right to inquire, whisked the General away, after some struggle and high efforts before the said date via Dubai by Emirates Airline whose management of Sri Lankan Airlines the president terminated three years ago for not giving 35 unconfirmed seats to his entourage from London to Colombo where as the Sri Lankan Airlines was fitted with only 20 business class seats. Today the former flies high ordering A380 aircrafts while the latter bleeds with losses.

Political pundits opined that it would have been better for the General to have met the officials and said to their face ‘you have no right to question me’ and walk out like Clint Eastwood provided Lanka had a clean chit. It is conceived now, had the General met the US authorities he would have said the same thing what a Sunday paper published on the 13th December - an in auspicious date [for whom?].

Interestingly last month Dr Palitha Kohona, now the UN ambassador issued a statement from Washington that no such thing ever happened in Oakland city. How could such a learned man take a country that has the highest literacy next to Kerala in the region, for granted? Inconsistency has been the whole mark of this regime.

On war, putting the Congress party into awkward position, authorities thanked India many times for the unblemished support offered to defeat the LTTE. Now they say that the war was carried on despite of the pressure from many countries including India. Funny, isn’t it?

Today apart from the opposition candidate and the opposition leader, the UPFA camp has got another punching bag - that is the Tamil National Alliance, measured by the same scale that “if you are not with us you are with them.” Racism, chauvinism and “koti” have reemerged on the center stage. Is the LTTE leader still guides SL politics even after his death?

A painful observation is, some columnists have started poring oil on fire stating that the general’s rapport with the Northeastern Tamils and the TNA would cost him votes in the south. A ‘HARD TALK’ interviewer mentioned “given that both candidates fear making any concrete promises to the Tamil community that would be termed as betrayal to the Sinhala people…”

Oh God, do they mean attending to the welfare of the minorities is a betrayal to the Sinhala people? If so, has not SL got out of the Mahavamsa myth yet even after the elimination of an armed struggle? Is, what the president says, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity a fallacy?

Though a significant Tamil population is uninterested to go to the booths, such anti Tamil remarks might push them against the regime. A SMS from the General’s camp quoted a survey whereas in all the districts the common candidate commands a lead except in Hambantotta which is 47% against 49%, while in Jaffna, Vanni and Batticaloa the president scored 21%, 32% and 28% and the General is favoured by 77%, 64% and 69% respectively.

The president, expecting gratitude from people and ignoring the fact that the stomach guides the brain, has shot himself in his foot. Now he has embarked on an unprecedented lavish - high tech propaganda never seen in the political history.

Email circulated from the opposition quoted that the president’s advertising campaign that includes 72 times of TV broadcasts a day in all seven channels, radio, press commercials and billboards etc. are estimated to cost Rs.3.25 billion.

But it failed to take into account of the global web site advertisement ‘A Brighter Future’ possibly channeled through Google or Yahoo on international and Indian news papers including some Tamil papers. This web ad that cheapened ‘AVATAR’ publicity nauseates the one who browses and makes president Barak Obama’s campaign a minim. From where does the fund come?

Even though the country is overwhelmingly clamoring for a change, not for the love of the General, one can not rule out the chances the present ruler still has as the entire state machinery is in his hands. His blackened disregards for political norm and election laws are also well known.

He is a man who never left any stone unturned. Did any one expect a deal with the Sun God in 2005? So what he got up his sleeve might change the trend too. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. This is where the General has to prove himself whether he is a wimp or a warrior.

Now the stage is set. Battle lines are drawn. The gate is open. The boxing super title fight has turned out to be a Spanish Bull Fight where the bull is kicking the ground with a ferocious look at the fighter, having a red flag in his hands. Who is the bull, who is the fighter? I leave it to your imagination.

“Kaudha Rajah?” - Who is the King?” Will be crowned after a bloody battle on the 26th with bruises.