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 ndeed,
he didn’t win the race to succeed Kofi Annan as the new
Secretary-General of the UN… in fact, he ended up at the rear of the field
of main contenders, having started as a veritable firm favourite. It was a
year of ups and downs, with the ‘Asian flag’ fluttering incessantly – its
turn had come, we were told, even before the starter’s orders… but there
were many detractors; amongst them, the most powerful nation on earth.
That Jayantha Dhanapala ran a
highly-dignified campaign, centred around values of old and with the least
possible assistance from his state, is widely accepted. That his state
just happened to be a war-torn island being run to the ground by corrupt
and inept politicians was also common knowledge not just here, at home,
but also amongst those in the know in high-ranking international circles.
That his diplomatic network was limited by virtue of his country’s
wafer-thin spread of representatives around the world is also known. “We
have, perhaps, a third of the number of diplomatic missions that India and
South Korea have,” Dhanapala tells Namini Wijedasa, in a no-holds-barred
exclusive interview in this month’s Cover Supplement.
But despite the numerous ‘home-made’
impediments, he makes few, if any, excuses for his failure to secure the
top post at the UN – a testament to his graciousness in defeat. He is also
a unique being in this day and age, in this country, in that he asked not
any favours nor pulled any strings… the norm for just about anyone who
runs for high office in Sri Lanka today. That he must’ve known early in
the piece that this could result in his downfall is a given – another
example, perhaps, of where his deep-rooted principles lie.
LMD’s
‘Sri Lankan Of The Year’ for 2006 not only put the nation back on the
world stage at a time when its image was taking a beating in the eyes of
the international community, but he taught us all a lesson or two about
how one can accept defeat with dignity.
We’ve also come to realise that one
doesn’t have to win to become a role model for a nation that is
desperately searching for one… in short, one doesn’t have to hold high
office nor be a world beater to be honoured as a ‘Sri Lankan of the Year’.
– LMD |
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