When the anniversaries of our late leaders come to pass, they receive honourable mentions in the media and last week it happened to be the 113th birth anniversary of the country’s first Executive President, J. R. Jayewardene. Had the man with one of the most astute minds in Sri Lankan politics still been among us, he probably wouldn’t wish to see the plight of his beloved United National Party (UNP) today.
Jayewardene almost single-handedly masterminded the UNP’s turnaround from being reduced to 17 seats in a 151-seat Parliament in 1970 to 140 seats in a 168-seat Parliament seven years later and that too within the short span of four years when he took total control of the UNP after the unexpected demise of Dudley Senanayake.
That is despite being a politician who was seen as more intellectual than popular, a trait that his nephew and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appears to have inherited. At one time, the UNP was known as the ‘Uncle Nephew Party’ and its leadership did pass on to Jayewardene’s nephew Wickremesinghe but it was not the former’s doing. That occurred because its second-tier leadership which Jayewardene had diligently groomed- Ranasinghe Premadasa, Lalith Athulathmudali, Gamini Dissanayake and Ranjan Wijeratne- all fell victim to terrorism.
Today, the UNP is a ghost of its former self- and that is despite being in government. Its leader and deputy leader are issuing public statements that they both wish to contest the upcoming presidential election. Its general secretary is issuing show cause notices to ministers who appear to have defied party protocols. Its chairman is at the forefront of running a campaign of public rallies that seeks to undermine the leadership.
It could be argued that this is democracy within the party at its best. Everyone is having their say. Some in the UNP are saying that this is better than what their main rival, the newly formed Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) did, giving its leader Mahinda Rajapaksa a blank cheque to pick its presidential candidate- and he then went on to choose his brother!
There may be some merit in the argument that the process in the SLPP was far from democratic but the current state of bedlam in the UNP is at the other end of the spectrum. No one appears to be in charge. There is confusion about how the eventual candidate will be chosen: whether it would be the choice of the Working Committee alone or whether the Working Committee and the party’s parliamentary group would collectively make a decision. The outcome may well be different, depending on the method adopted, insiders say. J.R. Jayewardene would have been aghast at this state of affairs!
Voters watching the spectacle of midnight meetings at Temple Trees, the rallies being held in major cities to ‘welcome’ a purported candidate and public comments emanating from within the two camps of the UNP are asking how the party could govern a country when it cannot govern itself.
Meanwhile, vital days are lost and time is running out. In contrast, the SLPP has got its act together and their show is already on the road.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has led the party for twenty-five years. In that period the UNP has held office twice, both under Presidents from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. As a result, they have not been able to govern unencumbered. Even the last four years under Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s stewardship was not spectacular, which is why the UNP is struggling in the popularity stakes.
Under Wickremesinghe’s leadership the party has also lost dozens of other elections and avoided contesting two presidential elections which, with the benefit of hindsight, was a grave mistake.
There is also the perception that Premier Wickremesinghe, with his aloof and awkward style of public relations, is difficult to be ‘marketed’ as a candidate.
His main challenger, Sajith Premadasa is the heir to the Premadasa legacy and claims to follow ‘Premadasa policies’. He does have grassroots appeal and if the party needs a generational change and a new outlook, he would be the person to deliver that.
However, his stance on various issues is ambiguous. This week, when he was pointedly asked, he wouldn’t commit to the abolition of the Executive Presidency. His position on the devolution of power to the provinces has not been articulated clearly which is why the Tamil National Alliance is hedging its bets by maintaining a dialogue with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. Speaking of alleviating poverty and building houses alone would not guarantee getting elected.
By throwing down the gauntlet and saying he would ‘contest, come what may’ Premadasa has also painted himself into a corner. If he doesn’t get nominated by the party, he would either have to run for President by himself and split the party or be labelled as a man who doesn’t keep his word.
The often unspoken third candidate is Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. Speaker Jayasuriya earned the kudos of the public during his statesmanlike conduct during the constitutional crisis last year, braving insults and physical assaults from parliamentarians engaging in rowdy behaviour. He is content to stay in the wings saying he is willing to contest, but only if all factions of the party agree. In essence, he would be the ‘compromise’ candidate if the leader and deputy leader cannot see eye to eye.
Given the mess that the UNP is finding itself in, it is time for the party to perhaps ask, ‘what would JR have done?’. In the ‘70s, when issues arose about who would be his deputy, JR held a vote promptly and Ranasinghe Premadasa was the winner. The runner-up in the winner-takes-it-all contest was Gamini Dissanayake. Had that vote been different, the country’s history may have also been different!
For the UNP, the moral of the story is, it is high time to put this bickering to bed. If a vote has to be taken, take it now, select your nominee and get on with it. Or else, face the prospect of at least five years- or perhaps even ten- on the opposition benches because whoever wins the presidential election will ensure that their party wins the general elections that would follow.