RANIL WICKREMESINGHE ON ARRIVAL AT KATUNAYAKA SAYS THERE IS NO CRISIS IN HIS PARTY AT ALL

By Walter Jayawardhana

Karu and Ranil during better times

Handful turned up for ranil A BBC photo by elmo Fernando

The Leader of the United National Party (UNP) who personally preferred to stay away in Nepal rather than in Sri Lanka when history’s biggest exodus of his party parliamentarians occurred said at the Katunayaka International Airport on arrival there is no crisis in his party.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sinhala language Service the beleaguered party leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe said referring to the cross over of 18 UNP parliamentarians and his political ally the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress that it was no crisis at all.

The United National Party has faced bigger crisis in the past, said Wickremesinghe obviously underestimating the crisis since in the past only lesser number of parliamentarians have crossed over to the other side of the aisle in the parliament from his party. Even the late S. W. R.D. Bandaranaike who gave birth to the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and crossed over from the UNP could not take that many Members of parliament.

Like Bandaranaike , who was the deputy leader of the UNP then, Karu Jayasuriya who was the deputy leader under Ranil Wickremesinghe led the exodus this time. The handful of Ranil Wickremesinghe supporters who went to Katunayaka to push the spirits up of their leader carried placards personally attacking Karu Jayasuriya that depicted slogans with the word Karu rhyming with the word Horu (thieves). Although UNP Secretary General Tissa Attanayaka advertised a huge demonstration to greet the leader the outcome was very poor.

Still Ranil Wickremesinghe refused to answer whether the MOU signed by the UNP and the ruling SLFP was over. Reliable sources said Ranil sent UNP Chairman Rukman Senanayaka to request President Rajapaksa not to accept the UNP dissidents asking him to take the UNP as a whole into the government. But the President apparently refused the request. Thereafter Ruman Senanayaka who held a press conference tore the MOU in a public exhibition but fell short of telling it was over. Now Ranil Wickremesinghe himself has not said that it was over. He said he would make a statement after further discussions with his party.

The UNP leader said there was no crisis in the party since all party members are remaining although 18 parliamentarians have left. He did not tell the media how he came to the conclusion that all party members were still remaining. But no opinion poll has been conducted since the departure of the 18 parliamentarians from his party including some of the most senior parliamentarians . But karu Jayasuriya has said the majority of his supporters favored a departure before they crossed over.

Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived at katunayaka international Airport on Friday and said he was thankful that party chairman Rukman Senanayaka and party General Secretary Tissa Attanayaka did not leave