Sri Lanka's ex-president called power a 'joke' after personal tragedies

Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga views political power as a "joke," finding it only valuable for the authority it grants to implement necessary actions for the country. This cynical perspective stems from a life marked by extraordinary personal loss and political violence.

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I'm a workaholic, I like to work. And I'm in this, not to fill my pockets like lots of others, or because the idea of power thrills me - I find it a joke.

Kumaratunga, born into Sri Lanka's foremost political dynasty, witnessed firsthand the destructive nature of power. Her father, Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike, was assassinated in 1959. Later, her husband, actor-turned-politician Vijaya Kumaratunga, was murdered in 1988. While serving as president herself, she survived a suicide bombing attempt by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1999, losing vision in her right eye.

"I find power a joke - I laugh or I get very angry with it," Kumaratunga stated in a 2005 interview with Australian journalist Michael Maher. She clarified that her attraction to power was not about personal enrichment or the thrill of high office, but rather the "authority and the possibility of doing what I think should be done for this country." This sentiment carries a distinct weight, given the personal sacrifices she endured due to political extremism.

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Yes. I find power a joke - I laugh or I get very angry with it.

Her worldview was shaped by her studies in Paris, where she absorbed political science and left-leaning intellectual traditions away from the intense Sri Lankan political scene. Upon returning, she allied with her husband, who championed ethnic reconciliation. The political landscape she navigated was fraught with danger, leading to immense personal suffering rather than fulfillment. For Kumaratunga, political authority was an absurd, dangerous theater, an instrument to be endured for its policy-enabling capacity.

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I don't like it at all. The only thing that attracts me in power is that it gives me the authority and the possibility of doing what I think should be done for this country.