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| Sunday, 6 June 2004 |
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Ranil challenges young turks in UNP From the Kraal Mahout The UNP which anticipates defeat at the forthcoming provincial elections to six bodies met on Thursday at 'Siri Kotha' to appoint two committees to work hard to reduce the margin of defeat. Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told the two committees, one on the election campaign and the other on fund raising, that every effort should be made to minimise the huge gap between the winning United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and his party. With just four weeks more to the poll, the UNP is yet not ready at grass root level to face the election. The UNP will put its full strength in the Central Province to save face in the defeat that is going to be huge in the South, West, Uva, Sabaragamuwa and North Central Provinces. The Central area contest will be a test for the newly-appointed UNP Deputy Secretary General, Tissa Attanayake. He is one man who stressed for reforms after the defeat at the April General Election. Wickremesinghe, a shrewd politician like his uncle Junius Richard, threw the challenge back at Attanayake by offering him the newly created post of Deputy Secretary General. The ball is now in Attanayake's court and Wickremesinghe sits pretty in Colombo watching how this underdog in politics is going to perform. Attanayake has been pushed into a position to save face of his party in the only province that it intends to win. But, this time, a UNP win in the Central Province looks remote. There was confusion among the rank and file in the central hills of the UNP as former General Secretary, Senarath Kapukotuwa was earlier tipped to be the Chief Ministerial candidate. Tremendous pressure was mounted on Wickremesinghe over this choice and it took nearly three weeks to resolve the crisis. Finally, Kapukotuwa opted to stay out from the contest and the young turks in the party emerged winners, causing embarrassment to the party leader. The confusion that has prevailed since then put the UNP in the Central hills in disarray, yet unable to find a choice for the chief minister's post. Cross-over The UNP's chances of saving the Central Province hangs in the balance with its partner, Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) leader, Arumugam Thondaman holding talks with the Government to decide on a possible cross-over to support the UPFA. Junior Thondaman, in the footsteps of his grandfather Saumyamoorthy, is more keen to look after the interests of his plantation community that elected his party to parliament than of the UNP. Unlike in the past, the CWC it is learnt, had not signed the regular Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UNP this time. This had been an oversight as both the UNP and the CWC did not expect a defeat of the UNF government prior to the election. Be that as it may, even if Thondaman supports the UPFA, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will not be in a position to sack them though elected on the UNP ticket. Wickremesinghe cannot afford to take such drastic action as it would look discriminative of the Indian origin community. Therefore, Thondaman is batting on a good wicket that is in favour of his decision making. If Thondaman supports the UPFA, it will certainly weaken the UNP base in the hill capital. The UPFA in parliament will turn into a majority government of 114 members. This will push the UNP into deep trouble both in central and provincial politics. As at now, even without the support of the CWC,the UPFA looks certain of winning the Central region by a slender majority. The political developments looking beneficial towards a UPFA victory in the central hills will not only crush the UNP at the PC elections, but would also ensure a humiliating setback to the newly appointed Deputy General Secretary, Tissa Attanayake. UNP stalwarts in the region have taken back seats in the PC election platform to witness the plight of Attanayake on July 10. In the South, two more UNP self-styled leaders may see the same fate befalling them at the July 10 elections to the Southern PC. One is the man who ensured the worst defeat in Matara during the General Election, Mahinda Wijesekere and the other is Hambantota novice who aspires to be the President one day like his father, Sajith Premadasa. A UNP defeat in the South is a foregone conclusion. It would even lose the Galle seat won at the General Election, party insiders say. Mahinda Wijesekere, UNP stalwarts say had offered nothing to the party though he crossed over to enjoy ministries and other benefits. Prior to the April election, he declared that if any JVP member is elected to Parliament from Matara, he would drown himself in the Beira Lake. Three JVP candidates were elected to parliament from Matara. But Wijesekere has so far not kept his promise to drown himself. The Beira Lake is one hundred miles away to him and partymen say he could easily drown in the Nilvala Ganga in his hometown, Matara to keep his promise if he is a genuine politician. Tactical move Young Sajith Premadasa is another man who pressed for party reforms. Wickremesinghe, in a tactical move appointed him as the Secretary of a committee on poverty alleviation. Premadasa has no experience in poverty alleviation. He has just started politics. He had lost his electorate in April. Tissamaharama is a downtrodden area where 98 per cent of the population live below the poverty line. This could have been a cause for Premadasa's defeat in April. Being a deputy minister for two years in the previous government, he had not been able to reduce the poverty ratio there. Wickremesinghe's new post to Premadasa has put the young man in deep trouble. The post itself is of gentleman's rank, but there's nothing in the bank for Premadasa to alleviate poverty. He faces stiff competition in organising Hambantota for the PC election this time. He must remember that there is a strong JVP force in the contest and an SLFP, led by no lesser person than the Prime Minister of the country and veteran of the South, Mahinda Rajapakse. |
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