{"id":96214,"date":"2019-12-10T00:26:33","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T06:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96214"},"modified":"2019-12-09T17:24:40","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T00:24:40","slug":"the-future-of-the-unp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/10\/the-future-of-the-unp\/","title":{"rendered":"The future of the UNP"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Each \ntime Ranil Wickremesinghe is faced with a threat to his leadership he comes up \nwith a band aid solution which either postpones his day of reckoning, and \/ or \nworsens the situation for the Party, creating internal chaos and bringing it \ndown in the eyes of the people. The latest attempt to solve the power struggle \nwithin the UNP is to divide the leadership into two compartments : 1 the Leader \nof the Opposition whose role is confined to the limited area of the Parliament \nand 2. the Leader of the Party with overriding powers to control the affairs of \nthe Party. This has only postponed the date of the impeding removal of him from \nthe leadership. It has not solved the internal power struggle. In fact, it has \nforced the Sajith to come out fighting more  fiercely than before. Perpetuating \nthe chaos within the Party \u2013 a common tactic of Ranil — is not what the Party \nneeds at a time when it is facing another defeat in the coming Parliamentary \nelections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clearly, \nsplitting the leadership at the top has neither appeased the second tier \nrebelling against him.  Nor has it inspired the electorate to follow Ranil as \nthe alternative leader of the nation. It is a useless exercise that will neither \nsolve the problem for him nor the Party to rise from the pit into which it has \nfallen. Of the two divisions it is obvious that the Leader of the Party has a \ngreater clout than the Leader of the Opposition. As Leader of the Party Ranil \nWickremesinghe will have the full control of the Party organisation throughout \nthe Island on all issues at all times. Whereas, as the Leader of the Opposition \nSajith Premadasa can only walk in the corridors of Parliament (which is not \nsitting now) with a name board round his neck. The managing and directing of all \nparty politics impacting on the nation and, consequently within the Parliament, \nwill reside in the hands of Ranil who is the Leader of the Party. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even \nthe Speaker will be dealing with the Party leaders in settling affairs of the \nParliament. In the current state of play a nominal role will be allotted to the \nLeader of the Opposition, if at all. The policies, programs, directions and \npolitical alliances at the national level at all times will be with the Leader \nof the Party and not in the hands of part time Leader of the Opposition who has \nno significant  role to play now that the Parliament is not sitting. Even when \nParliament resumes its sittings after January 3 Sajith will be jobless because \nit is due to dissolved to make way for next election. So Sajith is back to \nsquare one: an empty title with no role to play.  The trump card is still with \nRanil who commands a majority in the Working Committee \u2013 the key instrumentality \nwhich has been manipulated by him solely to serve his survival. It is \nquestionable as to whether Sajith will even have the full control of the \nParliamentary group to run the opposition according to his will as Ranil is \nbound to manipulate the MPs to dance to this tune.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All \nthis reflects the utter chaos in which the UNP is struggling to survive as a \ncredible party in the eyes of the nation. Can a divided party win the confidence \nof the people? This also raises a critical question: if the UNP can\u2019t manage its \nown internal affairs how can it manage the affairs of the nation? It is clear \nthat the division within the Party is deep-seated with the pro-Sajith ranks \npresenting formidable opposition to Ranil. They are ready to take on Ranil at \nevery level. But as things stand now, Sajith will have to twiddle his fingers \nand hang around doing nothing as the Parliament is prorogued. Ranil still has \nthe whip hand to determine the critical issues of the Party. Not that he is \ngoing to revamp the Party and make it a dynamic force to contest the coming \nelection. At this late stage he is doomed. He has no vision, no formula or \nstrategy to recover. Whatever he does now, it will result only in the Party \nlosing again to the overwhelming forces that triumphed in the Presidential \nelection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \nfuture of the Party depends on democratising the Party. And this can begin only \nwith the removal of Ranil from the leadership.  It is his leadership that has \ndragged the UNP and the nation to the prevailing depths of despair. He is \nensconced in power because the UNP constitution has empowered the Leader of the \nParty with dictatorial authority. Together, Ranil and the UNP constitution \nnegate the possibilities of the Party gaining maximum internal democracy. The \nRuwan Wijewardene report that inquired into reforms of the UNP had recommended \nthe democratisation of the constitution as a prime necessity. But Ranil, after \npaying lip service, undercut any meaningful changes. The constitution and the \npacking of the Working Committee with his  yes-men have given him the necessary \npowers to move his pawns on the chess board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \nother words, Ranil still has the power to move Sajith from place to place \nwithout giving him the power he needs to make a difference. Sajith has been \nmoved from Deputy Leader to Presidential candidate and now to Leader of the \nOpposition. Ranil has been playing snakes and ladders with Sajith. Ranil is bent \nmore on pulling Sajith down than sending him up the ladder. The latest move is \nto turn Sajith into another Rajavarothiam Sampanthan \u2013 a ceremonial figure head \nwho would be the best prop for him to retain his power inside and outside the \nParliament. In any case, there is no Parliament for Sajith to play any \nsignificant role. The only role left for Sajith is to play that of the Leader of \nthe Opposition to Ranil!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \nattempt to kick Sajith into an empty chair upstairs is nothing but a cosmetic \nexercise with no substantial change in the power structure for the Leader of the \nOpposition to make meaningful changes to create a new image of the party to win \nback the voters who had deserted the Party in droves. What the UNP need is a \nradical change of politics, policies and personalities. What the UNP has got is \nthe same old same old leadership of Ranil \u2013 a change doomed to fail. . \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \nso-called reform of appointing Sajith as the Leader of the Opposition is not to \npromote him but to save Ranil\u2019s skin.  Each time recommendations were made for \nthe reforming of the Party Ranil has been sweeping any change that threatens his \ndictatorial grip on the Party under the carpet. Furthermore, no other party has \nappointed committees as the UNP to report on the necessary reforms. Starting \nfrom the Panditharatne report to the most recent Ruwan Wijewardena\u2019s report the \nUNP has been warned of the changes needed to make itself relevant to the \ncontemporary electorate.  The Wijewardene report has been the best so far. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ranil \nhad the necessary blue print to adjust the direction of the Party in the Ruwan \nWijewardene\u2019s report which drew attention to the need of (a) creating a second \ntier leadership  giving more  authority to the  young (b) democratising the \nparty by whittling down the  executive powers of Ranil who was  running it like \na one-man dictatorship (c) make provision for the election of a  leader (d) \nmoving the party closer to the grass root base (c) adjusting the party to meet \nthe historical aspirations of the Sinhala-Buddhist base etc. Ranil made big \nnoises about it in the media but the status quo remained unchanged. Ranil who \nspends all his energy on handing over the powers of the nation to the Tamil \nseparatists, or whittling  down the powers of the Presidency to make his \nPremier\u2019s seat the center of state power, never moved a finger to devolve his \npowers to his own party men.  He doesn\u2019t trust his own party men but he has \nimplicit faith in making Sampanthan the Leader of the Opposition with 16 votes \nin a House of 225, violating all known principles of parliamentary democracy. \n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \nas usual Ranil never took the necessary steps to implement the report. The \nchanges, if any, have been mere optics and theatrics to appease the forces \nthreatening him. He would craftily offer changes (like appointing Sajith as the \nLeader of Opposition) not to revamp the Party but to get his rivals out of his \nway to consolidate his position as the sole leader of the \nparty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had \nRanil implemented the Ruwan\u2019s report there was a possibility (though remote) of \navoiding the crash of November 16. There are, of course, several reasons that \nled to the crash of November 16. But the primary cause was undoubtedly Ranil. If \nthe UNP won he would have crowed that it was his leadership and his political \nalliances with the minority parties that led to the victory.  Now that the UNP \nhas lost he must take full responsibility for its failure \u2013 for the \n30th<\/sup> time! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \ncurrent reformists, however, must not fall for the belief that removing Ranil \nwill solve their problems. They have to go deeper than that. They must root out \nthe policies and programs of Ranil that alienated the Sinhala-Buddhist base. \nWhen 70% of the Sinhala population reject the UNP then it is time for the new \nguard to revisit the policies and the programs pursued by Ranil-Mangala gang. If \nRanil inflicted the wounds on the Sinhala-Buddhist body politic then Mangala \nrushed in and rubbed salt into it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \nfirst prophetic UNP pioneer who realised the destabilising role of Ranil and its \ndestructive impact on the Party was Bodhi J. Ranasinghe. He was a party loyalist \nbut like all loyalists he moved away from Ranil realising that he was not the \nman who could save the party or the nation. The seminal rebellious group of \nUNPers gathered round him and he gave the necessary quantum of oxygen to the \ndisillusioned UNP youth. Bodhi invested his hopes in Sajith, having been a \ncommitted loyalist of his father, President Premadasa.    Like all those who \nfollowed Ranil initially, Bodhi realised that Ranil\u2019s power to repel is far \ngreater than his power to attract. A common complaint of all Ranil loyalists is \nthat he is never loyal to them. He either casts them out or keeps them at arms\u2019 \nlength. Bodhi too was a victim of Ranil\u2019s karapincha<\/em><\/strong> treatment.  \nSadly, Bodhi\u2019s untimely death dispersed the UNP youth who gathered round him. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Ruwan\u2019s \nreport got the same treatment of all other reports presented to Ranil: it was \nlocked up inside the nearest drawer, unread, untouched and unwanted.  Ranil will \nnot touch anything that threatens his supremacy. His latest move to appoint \nSajith as the Leader of the Opposition is only a bone thrown to keep the barking \ndogs quiet. He thinks he can deceive the young Turks again with false hopes and \npromises. But their thinking is that they have come as close as they can to \noverthrow the old guard represented by Ranil.  Harin argues that the rebels had \nwon every battle they had fought so far and there is no reason why they can\u2019t \ndeliver the final coup de grace. They are exasperated and impatient having come \nto the end of the tether. They are right: there is no point in following a \nleader that can\u2019t win.  After losing 30 elections under Ranil can they hope to \nwin the next critical Parliamentary elections with a born loser? Nor can they be \nhappy with Sajith playing the second fiddle?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though \nRanil is playing his own games to survive in the leadership Sajith, in a sense, \nhas been inching his way like the camel in the Arab\u2019s tent. Sajith still has \nsome distance to go to oust the Arab and capture the tent. He has been drifting \nmore horizontally than vertically. He has been going across the chess board from \nDeputy Leadership to Presidential candidate and from there to the Leader of the \nOpposition. Despite these advances he is still not in command of the Party to \ndetermine the fundamental policies and run the party under his leadership. In \nParliament he will have space only to act as the peon who will deliver the \npolicies dictated by Ranil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \nany case, Sajith has nothing to do now because Parliament has been prorogued \ntill January 3. Ranil loses nothing by making Sajith the leader of the \nOpposition as there is no Parliament for Sajith to act. Ranil, of course, has \nmerely postponed his day of departure. But he should know that his days are \nnumbered. The seething anger rising within the lower layers of the Party \nindicate that the power struggle within the Party has not ended. The young Turks \nare hanging over his head like the Sword of Damocles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ravi \nKarunanayake argues that for the sake of unity they have to keep Ranil as the \nleader. But can the UNP win the coming Parliamentary election under Ranil? What \nthe UNP needs is a leader who can lead them to victory. November 16 proved once \nagain that Ranil is not a vote-winning candidate. What the UNP need is a radical \nchange \u2013 a change in policies, personalities and the failed politics. In short, \nit means throwing Ranil out because he has nothing new to offer the party or the \nParty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala Each time Ranil Wickremesinghe is faced with a threat to his leadership he comes up with a band aid solution which either postpones his day of reckoning, and \/ or worsens the situation for the Party, creating internal chaos and bringing it down in the eyes of the people. The latest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96214","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\/96214","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=96214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}