Dilrook Kannangara

I read with interest what Dr LTC Rajaratnam had to say about Ranil. However, his assertions donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t add up with the ground reality. In reality Ranil is hardly a gentleman. Elevating him to the level of a gentleman is something even Ranil would not accept. Take a good hard look at this man who with his twisted logic brought about misery to a nation, a party and a people. He has shown a chronic lack of commonsense in everything he does. However, he doesnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t hesitate to do whatever that boosts his image among his sponsors no matter how audacious it is. Ranil may be President RajapakshaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s best friend, for good reasons, but that does not in any way absolve RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s reckless behaviour. It is political expedient for rulers to keep him at the wicket as long as possible.

Murderer

Ranil is an unconvicted mass murderer. It is not so strange in a country where hundreds of thousands died in the past 40 years due to various political campaigns but no one was charged over specific offences of murder, except the LTTE leader! It is no secret Ranil personally supervised the execution of hundreds of innocent young men from the Kelaniya area in a torture chamber maintained by him in Batalanda. These were the findings of a Presidential Commission of Inquiry which comprised retired judges. When the matter was taken up in courts, courts rejected charges based on technical issues, not factual issues. However, people gave him the guilty verdict loud and clear. After he committed these horrendous crimes in 1989, he had to abandon not only his electorate of Biyagama, but also his election district of Gampaha District!

Today Ranil hovers around without an electorate. If Sri Lanka had a proper election system, which it had until RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s uncles scrapped it for personal political advantage, Ranil would have gone to the political dustbin in 1994. He survives thanks to his uncleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s constitutional blunder.

Batalanda mass murders are conveniently pushed under the carpet by those who want to appease the LTTE and itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s sadistic proxies who unfortunately survived the 2009 May grand finale. For them Ranil is a god given leader. They in fact love him for the Batalanda murders because only Sinhala youth were killed there. This selective mourning of casualties of violence has split the society. Ranil only panders into such divisions. He is unable to correct it even in his own political party.

Traitor

Ranil is a traitor. He surrendered national security to LTTE terrorists by signing the CFA at a time when the whole world was fighting terror. He accepted the presence of a de facto Tamil Tiger territory in the country. He allowed the execution of hundreds of intelligence operatives of security forces, allowed tigers to build new bunkers, gave tigers a freehand in bringing weapons to the island, wasted billions of rupees on the doomed ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-peace processƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ which included frequent free helicopter rides to terrorists, let tigers run riot in Valachchenai, Muttur, Serunuwara, etc.

When war resumed, he mocked the victories of security forces. He made several trips to foreign countries to discredit Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s image. He was even instrumental in cancelling the GSP+ facility to Sri Lanka. When the nation secured much needed foreign loans, Ranil and his clowns threatened to default loan payments, tried convincing banks not to lend to Sri Lanka and did everything else that would jeopardise the process. When payments for MiG jets were being processed, RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s hooligans protested in front of state banks demanding non-payment and tried to physically block the administrative work leading up to the payment.

Ranil not only allowed the clearance of expensive communications equipment to the LTTE, he transported those to Kilinochchi at stateƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s expense!

Ranil holds membership of various anti-Sri Lankan groups. Without a doubt he is instructed by these groups to commit anti-national crimes. Media favourable to Ranil fancifully covered this fact by calling him the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”daring of the westƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. In reality Ranil is only a tool in the hands of fundamentalist foreign organisations to manipulate national policy. Only a lunatic would not call Ranil a traitor.

Ineffectiveness

If one word describes Ranil best, that is ineffectiveness. He has lost close to 20 elections he led. He is the longest standing Opposition Leader. However, his victories ended up in worse disasters. In 1977 and 1989 he won just to lose his electorate. He became Prime Minister in 1993 only to be defeated a year later in 1994. Once again he grabbed power in December 2004 but after a mere 26 months in power his party suffered an untimely defeat.

Ranil agitated for a presidential election in 2005 whereupon an election was declared. As expected he lost that election too. He connived with like-minded individuals to bring the downfall of Sarath Fonseka, use him as a scapegoat and save his party leadership. Had Ranil contested the 2010 election he would have lost the party leadership too.

When voters call him incompetent and impotent, they mean his lack of potent leadership than anything else.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Misappropriation and contemptuous stealing

Ranil is no Mr Clean whatever the veracity of what the electorate calls him ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Mr Bean. His corruption in LH Plantations has been highlighted with excruciating details by none other than his closest ally Mangala Samaraweera. Ranil also appointed a large number of highly incompetent relatives and personal friends to positions in state institutions and paid them a thumping salary. Some of them including his choice of Treasury Secretary brought RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s downfall. At the 2010 April election a number of close and distant relatives of Ranil contest from the UNP which was known as the Uncle Nephew Party not so long ago. At the same time his henchmen ridicule the present administration over nepotism.

A few years ago Ranil stole the official motor car of a Buddhist monk parliamentarian. ThatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s not all; he had the audacity to travel in it around the country making spiteful allegations against the monk. The car was rented out in a bid to raise money from which the monk builds computer labs in disadvantaged schools. Although it is strictly illegal to do so, it does not warrant Ranil to steal the car.

RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s corrupt practices led to the untimely collapse of his 2001-04 government. Although the war temporary ended, there was no improvement in peopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s lives as massive corruption syphoned out all the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”peace dividendsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Fiscal mismanagement and corruption was so high that RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s government had to introduce a new wide ranging tax regime ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” VAT. Unlike the previous GST regime, the VAT regime didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t allow any concessions. It was massive corruption that ruined all privatisation attempts of RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s government including Telecom, Sathosa, CTB, etc. Eventually Telecom shares had to be sold to local investors foregoing a good opportunity to earn foreign exchange. CTB and Sathosa privatisations were called off after potential investors were convinced that corruption had eroded the net worth of these entities since calling for the Expression of Interest. A popular local liquor company bought over the government and got the law amended whereby liquor of certain alcohol contents could be sold in supermarkets. Ranil appointed the Chairman of this company to the post of tourism advisor. People taught Ranil a memorable at the 2004 elections where the UNP suffered the worst ever general election defeat in terms of votersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ percentage. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Leading up to the 2001 election, UNP strategists under RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s leadership approached a number of businessmen. They entered into a corrupt deal whereby they default paying tax and pay part of it to UNP party coffers. Once UNP assumes power, a selective tax amnesty would be granted to them. This way both groups would benefit. Tax defaulters can save big by tax evasion while RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s UNP would get part of it to run the election campaign. Everything went well until the selective tax amnesty was granted. The Opposition went to courts and annulled the selective tax amnesty. RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s party lost nothing but his financiers lost big time. This blunder made Ranil unpopular among the sections of the business community that previously donated generously to the UNP. UNP was forced to look for other avenues of finance.

In 2004 government appointed COPE committee to look into large scale corruption. Most corrupt individuals were associated with RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s party at the time they committed those corrupt acts. Surprisingly same individuals changed their corrupt past after defecting from RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s political party. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Violence

Ranil is a violent character. He unleashed violence on the society on a number of occasions. In doing so he totally disregarded the law, security issues and accepted conduct.

After the 1989 Batalanda affair, Ranil appointed a convicted killer and multiple criminal Gonawala Sunil as his secretary. This thug went around killing and intimidating people Ranil wanted to be silenced. A number of dedicated armed forces personnel were threatened by him. Some of them, including a very eminent navy officer left the country. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

In 1999 he led a rowdy rally into the heart of a High Security Zone causing injuries and property damage.

In 2000 a bill was presented to the parliament to enact what was called the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”political packageƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in an attempt to give a political solution to the ethnic issue. Ranil supported the move until it was presented in parliament. His goons set fire to papers containing the document inside the parliament while Ranil was having a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”napƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. The nap was no accident as Ranil planned it beforehand. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

Again in 2001 he launched a series of violent protests where protesters attacked the police. The whole purpose of the protest was to force a government change. Violence killed two individuals and that advanced RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s rise to power.

June 2002 saw the biggest race riot after 1983. It broke out between pro-LTTE Tamils and Muslims in the eastern industrial town of Valachchenai. RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s government allowed the LTTE to kill dozens of civilians, vandalize property and displace tens of thousands. Media was totally under RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s media unit which was known as the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”RalahamiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ unit. As a result people were denied news.

In 2003 Ranil again unleashed violent mobs to attack, vandalise and permanently destroy the State Printing Corporation. This happened when the then President took over the National Lotteries Board and gazetted the takeover. Damage to state property ran into few millions.

Again in 2003 an internationally renowned defence journalist by the name Paul Harris was threatened with violence and evicted from the country by RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s government. He highlighted serious security lapses that angered RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s goons.

Ruthless dictator

Ranil is a ruthless dictator. He does not allow a suitable politician to take over the reigns of the UNP. Ranil keeps a stranglehold on the party leadership. His attitude is akin to, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-to hell with the party, I should be the leaderƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. Many attempts to change the UNP leadership were foiled by Ranil using a close band of associates. Disgusted, most senior members left leaving only pro-Ranil yes-men in the party.

His close family members own a number of newspapers and radio/TV stations. They subtly promote Ranil and his absurd policies. This is nothing short of hijacking media freedom. Ranil uses this support to project a good picture of himself despite his true hopeless nature. He also uses it to attack his political opponents and people with opposing political views. This media empire is the only reason for his political survival. At the last election he threatened a journalist by the name Dayasili who was working at his family newspaper company of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”dire consequencesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ over a news items detrimental to him. Fearing for her life, she resigned from her job. Such is his intolerance of opposing political views.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

His lethargic posture and ineffectiveness is mistakenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as innocence and gentleness by some superficial political commentators and those contracted to praise politicians and their family members. This is because Ranil is still the dictatorial leader of the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s single largest party. And there is a big demand within RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s UNP for yes-men and prise singers.

Old age made his uncle a total dictator. It seems that Ranil is treading the same path. In 1977 when he started his political career he showed few signs of autocracy but as he grew older he is increasingly showing signs of dictatorship. His uncle was elected Prime Minister at the old age of 71 in 1977. That was the opportunity he waited for 71 long years. He assumed total dictatorial powers and declared he could do anything apart from performing a sex change. Ranil is growing old ungracefully. He is now 61; another 10 years to reach his uncleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s feat. If that happens, expect a repeat performance.

RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s contemptuous behaviour not only angered the people, but also the gods. He is cursed with miserable non-continuity. Ranil may be the father of treason, but he cannot be the father of other traitors! The type of loser ancient Chinese emperors used to guard their harem.