{"id":84012,"date":"2018-12-09T01:33:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-09T07:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=84012"},"modified":"2018-12-08T17:43:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-09T00:43:40","slug":"ranil-undercuts-sajith-by-appointing-ravi-k-as-deputy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/12\/09\/ranil-undercuts-sajith-by-appointing-ravi-k-as-deputy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranil undercuts Sajith by appointing Ravi K as deputy"},"content":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

A recent photo published in a news paper of a UNP meeting showed Ranil Wickremesinghe presiding, flanked by Sajith Premadasa (on\u00a0 his right) \u00a0\u00a0and Ravi Karunanayake (on his left). Sajith, of course, had taken\u00a0 his\u00a0 rightful place as the \u00a0anointed deputy leader of the party. He has proved his loyalty to the Leader and the party by refusing to take over the premiership handed to him by President Maithripala Sirisena. He also fits into the Ranil\u2019s promise of handing over\u00a0 power to the young and new leadership rising\u00a0 within the party. Above all, he has a clean record so far \u2013 a feature that stands out like Dudley Senanayake in the den of Ranil Wickremesinghe\u2019s uncounted thieves!<\/p>\n

If Sajith Premadasa is the anointed Deputy Leader of the UNP, guaranteed to succeed Ranil Wickremesinghe, what the hell was Ravi Karunanayake signalling (politically) by sitting on the left hand side at this Party meeting?\u00a0 Was Ranil feeling that cold to be flanked by two deputy leaders on either side? Seating arrangements in any significant political\u00a0 gathering goes by ranking. Only the No. 2 gets the adjacent seat next to Numero Uno. Like the way Ranil twisted the 19th<\/sup> Amendment to expand the Cabinet beyond the limit\u00a0 of 30 is he planning\u00a0 to expand the number of\u00a0 his deputies to secure\u00a0 his position in the\u00a0 party? The two deputies sitting\u00a0 on\u00a0 either\u00a0 side, with\u00a0 Ranil\u00a0 in the centre, made the UNP leadership look like a three-headed donkey\u201d, in the famous words of Dr. Colvin R. de Silva. But Ranil\u2019s devious plan seems to have a more\u00a0 sinister motive:<\/strong> as usual he is planning\u00a0 to have two number twos to vie\u00a0 with each\u00a0 other so\u00a0 that he can remain as No:1 \u00a0in the\u00a0 middle. This indicates clearly that he has\u00a0 not\u00a0 given up his usual crafty game of pitting one\u00a0 against the other. It is also possible that he deliberately planted Ravi K next to\u00a0 him to send a message to President Sirisena saying that his successor is Ravi and not\u00a0 Sajith. So is Ranil feeling threatened by Sajith, who is preferred not\u00a0 only from the top (i.e., President Sirisena\u00a0 inviting him to be\u00a0 PM) but also from the rank and\u00a0 file openly opting for Sajith?<\/p>\n

Any political observer reading\u00a0 the disaffected rumblings going on at the grassroots of the Party will know that Sajith, like his father, could easily win in an inner\u00a0 party leadership contest. Whether\u00a0 Ranil\u2019s manipulations can tilt the vote to his favourite, which has noticeably been Ravi K going back\u00a0 in time, is questionable. Ambitious Ravi K has been close\u00a0 to Ranil with\u00a0 the sole aim of stepping\u00a0 into his\u00a0 Leader\u2019s shoes. He was making his presence felt physically at the last meeting to signal that he has the blessings of Ranil to be next in line to the UNP throne. It was a conjecture when I first saw the photo at first in the newspaper. But the news item in CEYLON TODAY\u00a0 (7\/12) has confirmed my worst fears.\u00a0 It said: \u00a0United National Party and former Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has in writing informed UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake that he will be appointed as the Deputy Leader of the Party and the Minister of Finance in a future Government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where does this leave Sajith\u00a0 Premadasa? What guarantees are there, when push\u00a0 comes to shove, that Ranil will back him\u00a0 the way he has stood by Ranil so far? Ranil expects Sajith to stand by him the way he stood\u00a0 by President Premadasa when Lalith-Gamini combo led a futile challenge to\u00a0 impeach the President on ridiculous\u00a0 charges, one of which being\u00a0 insane. Up until now Sajith has\u00a0 paid back his dues with\u00a0 his loyalty to Ranil. He has done his\u00a0 bit. But will Ranil reward him\u00a0 with\u00a0 his gratitude?<\/p>\n

If the news item quoted above is correct then Sajith\u2019s future of\u00a0 becoming prime minister is as good as Ranil\u2019s future of becoming president in the next election. What\u00a0 is puzzling is the sudden necessity at this sensitive and critical stage for Ranil to send an official letter confirming the status of Ravi Karunanayake as Deputy Leader in a future government, in addition to being\u00a0 and future Minister of Finance. The news item does not\u00a0 say that the Leader has appointed Ravi as an additional deputy in the Party hierarchy. Nor does it say whether Ravi is equal to Sajith in rank, or higher\u00a0 or lower to Sajith. It says categorically that Ravi K will be appointed as the Deputy Leader of the Party and the Minister of Finance in a future Government.\u201d For all\u00a0 intents and purposes,\u00a0 it is a cryptic statement that degrades Sajith and elevates Ravi K. The signs are ominous. First, he\u00a0 gets Ravi K to sit next to him. Second, he sends an official confirmation of his status in a future government. Combined together\u00a0 doesn\u2019t this mean that Ranil is preparing the ground to give the boot to Sajith when he has consolidated his\u00a0 grip on power and party, if and when he wins the next election?<\/p>\n

From time to time Ranil had dangled carrots to Sajith to keep\u00a0 him\u00a0 quiet. And Sajith seems to have enjoyed the carrots hoping\u00a0 it will lead him eventually to the seat of leadership. But the latest\u00a0 move\u00a0 of Ranil should alert Sajith\u00a0 to the hard reality facing\u00a0 him:<\/strong> he cannot\u00a0 rely on his Leader to honour his\u00a0 words. He should know by now\u00a0 that the carrots are dangled\u00a0 by his Leader only to keep him\u00a0 happy and make him drag the UNP cart without\u00a0 upsetting his journey to achieve his personal goals at the expense of the gullible Sajiths who\u00a0will be sacrificed when\u00a0 the time\u00a0 is\u00a0 ripe.<\/p>\n

What is equally intriguing is why Ranil has moved so\u00a0 hastily, at this early stage, to confirm Ravi K as his successor when there are other young and capable candidates in\u00a0 the Party? There are young aspirants with unimpeachable integrity and promise like Ruwan Wijewardene, or Navin Dissanayake who is as suave as his\u00a0 genial father, Gamini Dissanayake. But he skips these leaders of the future and picks the most crooked and corrupted perverter of justice to be his deputy. It is incredible that of all the UNPers Ranil should elevate an immoral and incorrigible liar to be the second-in-command of\u00a0 the Party, dismissing all norms of Westminster traditions, let alone the basic morality accepted by our Punchi Singhos. What does this appointment say about Ranil\u2019s ability to give moral leadership to\u00a0 the nation? Isn\u2019t the need of the\u00a0 hour to find a leader who can\u00a0 give unsullied moral\u00a0 leadership? Can\u00a0 this nation ever accept Ravi K as its leader? Has Ranil lost his marbles? His long\u00a0 career in political\u00a0 is nearing\u00a0 its end with him dragging the nation to the lowest depths of degradation. Isn\u2019t it his duty now\u00a0 to lift the nation \u2013 if he can \u2013 to higher\u00a0 levels of moral probity than handing over leadership to another inveterate crook who will have no compunction in plundering\u00a0 the nation of even what\u00a0 is left after the Bond scam\u201d?<\/p>\n

With what moral authority can Ranil appoint such a disreputable crook to the seat that was occupied by the Senanayakes, Bandaranaike and Jayewardene? Is the UNP up for sale for\u00a0 the biggest wheeler-dealers of the\u00a0 nation? Why is Ranil obsessed\u00a0 with selling the assets of the nation to its enemies, robbers and crooks? Why select Ravi K of all members\u00a0 in the UNP? Their past relationship tells the story behind Ranil\u2019s choice. Ravi K has been Ranil\u2019s closest partner in the International Democratic Union (IDU). Both are two halves of the same rotten, Right-wing, Christian, IDU apple. Ravi\u00a0 K was Ranil\u2019s constant companion in his journeys to the IDU. Both are linked closely to the Western camp. They are also linked to the Tamil lobbies, both in the Tamil diaspora and Sri Lanka. Ravi\u00a0 K acts as Ranil\u2019s front man\u00a0 in\u00a0 all the underhand dealings, particularly with the Tamil diaspora. They are ideological\u00a0 twins. Ravi K received millions\u00a0 from the Tamil diaspora. He was accused of money laundering and he got\u00a0 off in the trial on a procedural technicality and not on the facts of the case. The story behind the court that dismissed his case too is intriguing and needs to be investigated.<\/p>\n

Both\u00a0 are pious humbugs who are skilled in the art of penetrating Buddhist temples and buying their blessings with political donations to either\u00a0 hire or\u00a0 silence the monks. Both\u00a0 have close\u00a0 links with the\u00a0 Western embassies. If the West has to choose between Ravi\u00a0 K and Sajith they would have no\u00a0 hesitation\u00a0 in\u00a0 the picking their most\u00a0 favoured man from\u00a0 the IDU \u2013 a clone of Ranil — who could be manipulated easily. It is easy to manipulate corrupt people than the honest ones. Ideologically Ranil is after a successor\u00a0 who would perpetuate his\u00a0 pro-West, pro-separatist\/federalist, pro-Tamil diaspora with an anti-national agenda. There is no one better suited in the Party than Ravi K. The political conduct of Sajith is not linked to this agenda so far. Sajith, rightly or wrongly, is seen as the anti-thesis of Ranil. He\u00a0 is respected as a leader with\u00a0 his feet planted firmly on Sri Lankan\u00a0 soil. Like his father he\u00a0 is regarded as the only UNPer who can bring the party back to its roots. He is trusted as a more credible Sinhala-Buddhists than Ranil and his running mate, Ravi K, covered in miles of pirith nools<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Ranil and Ravi K are two birds of a feather who have flocked together to dismantle the nation. Ranil\u2019s goal\u00a0 is to pass the baton to Ravi K. Though the trend in\u00a0 the\u00a0 party favours Sajith he cannot\u00a0 expect Ranil to hand it over to him. The signs are clear: Sajith <\/strong>will have to be on guard and fight\u00a0 all the way to the winning\u00a0 post, if he can. Ranil will, of course, throw some crumb Sajith\u2019s way to keep\u00a0 him quiet. So will Sajith be Ranil\u2019s lap dog and lie low, pleased with pats on his\u00a0 head for being a good boy to\u00a0 his master?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala A recent photo published in a news paper of a UNP meeting showed Ranil Wickremesinghe presiding, flanked by Sajith Premadasa (on\u00a0 his right) \u00a0\u00a0and Ravi Karunanayake (on his left). Sajith, of course, had taken\u00a0 his\u00a0 rightful place as the \u00a0anointed deputy leader of the party. He has proved his loyalty to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-h-l-d-mahindapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}