It is rather difficult to drive in Colombo or even in the provinces without bumping into that ubiquitous face with a toothbrush moustache and a toothy smile staring out of billboards. It is almost over a year since Mahinda Rajapakse was elected President and if all goes well for him - he has five more to go. And if that happens, the transformation of roadsides will be beyond our imagination.

There is a billboard outside the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) of President Rajapakse lovingly patting the head of a little girl. The political objective of this picture is apparently to project the Head of State as one who loves children. Is this the top priority of the nation right now? There may well be those in the north and east who might even say the picture is in bad taste given some of the developments in those areas with regard to children which even the Co-Chairs and Ambassador Allan Rock have chronicled.

There is another giant cut-out at Lipton Circus of the President with the caption 'Next only to Dutu Gemunu.' What he had done to earn this accolade of being 'next only' to the nation's warrior king is not stated. It certainly won't be because of him helping Hambantota's tsunami victims for sure. There are many more such depictions and no doubt others are in the process of being drawn.

These cut-outs have been put up on direct orders by ordinary citizens who are his genuine admirers such as pugnacious MP from the national list, Mervyn Silva. Where he acquired funds for this project is not known. And the purpose of this publicity build-up years before a scheduled election is also not known. It is pertinent to note that even former President Ranasinghe Premadasa who was accused of self-glorification by the likes of Mahinda Rajapakse when the Pada Yatra campaign was launched did not go this far in forcing acceptance by the people.

Then, the walls throughout the island were smothered with posters severely condemning the attempted assassination of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the President's brother. Gotabhaya Rajapakse was hardly known in this country till he was a summoned by his brother shortly before he won the presidential election and made his defence advisor and then defence secretary. Gotabhaya Rajapakse had been a colonel in the army who retired pre-maturely and took residence in the United States before he was summoned back by his brother.

The concern expressed in the islandwide poster campaign on the attempt on the life of a key public official is understandable. Certainly there were mass expressions of public sympathy when key officials particularly in the services were assassinated. The reactions to the assassinations of Generals Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Wijaya Wimalaratne, Lt. Gen. Ranjan Wijeratne, Rear Admiral Clancy Fernando are some such examples.

In this instance, the question is being asked by the public whether the reaction to the attempted assassination of Gotabhaya Rajapakse was also political because he happened to be the President's brother in addition to the reaction against terrorism by the people. After all, we did not see such proliferation of posters when the third in command of the Sri Lanka Army, Major General Parami Kulathunga was killed by a suicide bomber.

The newest development in this emergent political dynasty is the publicity being accorded to the President's son, young Yoshita, who recently left school and joined the navy. The young man is being accorded publicity on a comparable scale to a member of the British Royal Family joining one of Britain's defence forces. He is being shown measured up for his physical statistics by the navy, blessed by the Maha Nayakes, worshipping his parents and even escorted out of Temple Trees by his mother and father on his way to the navy.

Publicity given to a president's son joining an armed service is good because it could enthuse other young men to sign on. But to project it - as in some newspapers - that the President 'gives' or 'donates' his son to the navy is in extremely bad taste and is exploiting the young man for the sake of politics.

That cameras were at hand to capture every move of Yoshita underscores the fact the entire campaign was orchestrated. Yoshita Rajapakse should be complimented for volunteering to join the navy but not being 'given or 'donated' by his President father and used as a political tool. Maybe a good start would be for the young man to show some character and tell his father to rein in the sycophants.

While Yoshita Rajapakse joining the navy will be a positive factor in encouraging others of his generation to serve in the armed forces, attempts to project him as a member of a 'royal family' who is making a sacrifice for the country will be nauseating to others already at the frontlines and the families whose children have been killed in action without any such publicity being given when they joined up. The best that can be done for Yoshita is to leave him alone and let him build his naval career on his own initiative. The projection of Yoshita as coming from a family of warriors was all the more glaring in that even Gotabhaya, who left the army well before retirement age was shown as part of the Vadamarachchi operation in the same coverage.

There are others of the emerging 'royal dynasty' in key posts of government. Besides brother Gotabhaya, there is Chamal, the Agricultural Development Minister. Although he holds a non-cabinet portfolio those in the know say that he is in the inner circle and plays a key role while the other brother, Basil, a political advisor too, is known to pack an extremely powerful political punch. In fact it is no secret that there is growing frustration among ministers with Basil's interference in various projects coming under their ministries. Indeed Basil, who too has his home in Los Angeles, is the President's man for all seasons.

President Rajapakse has been reported to have told his ministers recently in cabinet when introducing the new emergency regulations that if they are scared to back him in his plans to combat terrorism, he could well carry them out with his brothers. Please note - not with the security forces or the people but his brothers. That alone goes to show the mindset of the President and only helped confirm the worst fears of the ministers, not to mention the people that what Sri Lanka is experiencing today is a one family show.

If a family tree is to be drawn on the various official positions held locally and internationally by members of the extended Rajapakse family, it will show how deep rooted the problem really is.

On the political front, President Rajapakse is well and truly stuck in his attempts to reach a negotiated settlement with the LTTE. He is held captive by the JVP and JHU but if he acts according to their dictates, he will come out in very bad light with the international community, which he cannot ignore. The UNP is offering him help but he is rejecting the offer because it will be his main opponent at the elections.

Is he hoping therefore to pull himself out with the help of the emerging Rajapakse dynasty and their hangers-on? It will be an impossible attempt like a man trying to pull himself up by his bootstraps. It could only lead to the government sinking deeper into corruption during the next five years as the political parasites around him attempt to exploit the situation and project him and his family as new royalty. And if Rajapakse is not blessed with adequate intelligence, he could well fall into the trap and soon turn out to be a tin pot dictator. The danger of such a situation is very real given his tendency to lift the telephone and abuse anyone who dares to disagree with him. And it does not help boost his image when the country is undergoing severe hardships on the economic, political and security fronts.

The seasoned politician Rajapakse is, he should by now know that in Sri Lanka the time for political dynasties is over. The only option available seems to be to work with the UNP, which the President seems to reject possibly for fear of being overshadowed. The other is to opt for a general election, which he is by no means sure of winning, especially without the JVP baggage.

Beyond these two democratic options, he may be tempted to use emergency regulations, which he has already promulgated to carry on regardless using the battle against terrorism as a convenient cover given the failures on practically every front. The questioning of Lake House journalists last week in this respect despite pledges not to do so under the new regulations is ominous and more so when the organisation itself is playing the issue down for fear of earning the wrath of their political masters.

Needless to say, LakeHouse will announce next week that Mahinda Rajapakse is 'Sri Lankan of the Year.' That after all is part of the palavering game henchmen resort to. But history shows that it is no way out in Sri Lanka. There will always be someone to challenge dictatorial tendencies of the elected leadership even if it meant having to make the supreme sacrifice and sooner the Rajapakses and their sycophants realise it, the better it is - not just for them, but the entire country.

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