CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Ranil as a Leader

by Terence Fernando

What is significant about the presidential election of Sri Lanka is not the election of Mahinda Rajapakse as the president, but the rejection of Ranil Wickremasinghe by the people. I personally know both of them fairly well from the time we all were students at the University and Law College, and later as lawyers. Ranil's associations at the University was confined to a small click of loyal Royalists with whom he continued his friendships to this day.

He neither showed any qualities of leadership nor that of a follower because, looking back, he did not have any character or initiative to engage in even the most simplest of the cafeteria tea room conversations at the University on matters concerning the public. For that matter, he never came to the tea room where the 'lesser mortals of life' went for their meager meals. I remember when he came to Sri Kotha self-proclaiming to be leader of the Sri Lanka youth and making it known to everyone that he was someone to be reckoned with impliedly because of his relationship to J. R. Jayawardene. He never had any time for anyone's opinion and neither did he express one of his own.

The leadership qualities of people are generally known from their youth, be it just leading the class in studies, contending for school unions, taking part in sports, being a member of a drama committee, debating team or for that matter leading a riotous mischievous pack. Ranil was never in any of these groups. There, also, were those who kept themselves to the exclusive company of their girl-friends and led that quiet life while diligently studying for their exams and, later, married their love no sooner employed. Notably, Ranil was far from that category.

Which brings me to the point of an individual's strength of character to lead a nation in the most critical time. Sri Lanka for the past quarter of a century has experienced carnage lead by the most brutal terrorist in our history. Now, Prabakaran is the leader for his terrorist organization with an international network of financiers. He became the leader of the LTTE through fierce competition that included murder, assassinations, robberies, civil carnage, drug dealings and all other heinous criminal acts that anyone could conceive of. He has earned the reputation in the international community as one of the most dangerous terrorists and is wanted by the interpol for drug dealing, money laundering and for murder. He is responsible for the death of two heads of state, namely Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India and President R. Premadasa of Sri Lanks. He is also, wanted for the attempted murder of the out-going Presdent of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaika. The organization of which he is a leader is categorized as a terrorist organization by many nations as a matter of government policy. Prabakaran is "The Leader", as he is known, to the followers of his internationally known terrorists organization and has skillfully managed to escape arrest and conviction with the help of his vast criminal network.

Now, who has the strength to compete with this internationally known terrorist to bring Sri Lanka back to normal ? Ranil may have hidden qualities that may make him a leader but, unfortunately, not many people know about them. Without malice, there is something hidden in his character which is an open secret in various circles.

Unsurprisingly, his total lack of an articulated vision for Sri Lanka, or an interest in the day to day difficulties of parents, children, families and ordinary working people are well known because he neither has family nor any children. I am not making any judgments about a persons sexual behavior or what people should do in the privacy of their bedrooms with whomever he or she wises to be with. But, it is an important character trait because this discussion is in the context of a nation with nearly 20 million people, on the brink of disintegration, desperately looking for a leader.

People with Ranil's character traits cringe in the presence of other stronger and smarter males who are recognized by leaders by others. The character and mind set of the former group are not molded to compete either intellectually or physically against their stronger male counter parts and are always prone to take a passive actions. They take the path of least resistance in any given confrontation and Ranil personifies those traits, which I have seen about him from his days at the University. As a result, Ranil's background character and personality dominated the decision making process when he dealt with Prabhakaran's lieutenants. The inevitable effect of his kind of leadership was that he compromised Sri Lanka's interest.

The people of Sri Lanka voted intelligently to rejected Ranil Wickremasinghe who contended to lead her.

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