Ranil’s great leap forward

Ranil Wickremesinghe has made a great leap forward beating even the vaunted record of Mao Tse Tung. Surprised?

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He has leapt from the bullock carts to the cars to make his protest on the cost of living. And that too from the safety of his back seat, as one newspaper pointed out. Instead of saying: “Juk!” Juk!” he was urging motorist to say: “Toot! Toot!’”.

After failing in all his previous endeavours his politics has now come down to either “Juk-Juk” or Toot-toot”. It is not possible to figure out how this can be a quantum leap into the future. But, I suppose, in the predicament he is in, he has no other alternative but to say “Juk-juk” and “Toot-toot” to the people.

Earlier he went around town banging pots and pans. Before that he led a “balu” march, dragging out some dogs from the Colombo Municipal Council’s pound in protest against the sentencing of his National Organiser, S. B. Dissanayake for contempt of court. Then he led a demonstration at Lipton Square protesting against banks lending money to the government.

Then he held a protest rally at Fort Station protesting about his failure to win the east. He even boycotts the Independence Day celebrations which is one of the greatest achievements of the founding fathers of the UNP. In short, he has led protest march against practically everything except Prabhakaran - the man who fixed him well and truly.

Election campaigns, protest marches, “juk-juks”, “toot-toots”, press conferences, particularly those flaying newspaper editors for not giving him the boost he needs to stay alive, have not worked for him. He even went to Germany boasting that he could fix the GPS+ and, as expected, he returned empty handed. Can he make anything work?

Of course, all this is done in the name of protecting the people, the cost of living, media freedom, democracy, peace, rule of law and, last but not the least, human rights.

Leaving aside these pompous principles which he never observed when wielding power, it must be conceded that he is exercising the right of the opposition to exploit the societal discontent for political advantage.

But a responsible opposition in a democracy has also a duty to provide viable alternatives to the problems of the nation.

The leader of the opposition in a democracy wins the hearts and minds of the people only by spelling out in detail a credible plan that can put things right, if he argues that the existing things are wrong.

Protesting against a prevailing regime for the sake of protesting, or to impress that he is a proactive leader with a future, is not going to cut any ice with the people if the opposition is bankrupt. “Toot-tooting!” and “Juk-juking” is not the answer to the people’s needs.

Wickremesinghe has failed consistently when it comes to providing an alternative leadership. Of course, it is too much to expect any kind of dynamic leadership from a leader who has failed to even hold his party together.

If he can’t lead the oldest and the well-knit and well-oiled UNP how can he give leadership to the nation? Every political advantage was handed over to him on a platter and he has wasted every opportunity that came his way. It is doubtful whether he can even take his dogs for a walk.

If he does the chances are that the dog will lead him instead him leading the dog!

Wickremesinghe’s problems are compounded by the inescapable fact that all leaders are forced to tread on a heavily mined landscape. One misstep is enough to explode the best laid plans. The quality of leadership is judged by the way leaders negotiate their way through these sensitive mine fields.

Despite the backing of media power houses in the private sector, despite the backing of foreign-funded NGOs, despite the backing of Western agencies, despite the backing of the moneyed class, despite the backing of the sections of the minorities and alliances with dubious dissidents from the government he has failed to find his feet.

He has also dropped his mantra of bringing down the government tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow. He is hoping to whip up people’s power in the street as a last resort. But the critical issue is: what is the alternative he can offer to solve the problems facing the nation? Take the case of the cost of living.

It is the most worrying factor, no doubt. The internal cost of the war and the external cost of rising fuel prices are driving the cost of living over and above the tallest coconut tree in sight. But does Wickremesinghe have an answer to it if he becomes the Prime Minister tomorrow?

This issue is coupled with that of the war. Is his answer to stop the war to bring down the cost of living? What are the repercussions of that? Can he guarantee that Velupillai Prabhakaran, his co-signatory to the failed Ceasefire Agreement (which he has abandoned now), will give him the political space he needs to bring peace? Even if he doesn’t want to go forward to defeat the Tamil Tigers how can he protect the territory which was conquered by the heroic soldiers without maintaining the defences at the maximum level?

Is his alternative to sign another futile CFA and throw away all the gains achieved by the blood, sweat and tears of the soldiers and the civilians? Besides, there is a fundamental in the NGO proposal that he war will come to end if a formula is worked out to satisfy only the extremist demands of the Jaffna political class.

Wickremesinghe not only signed an agreement with Prabhakaran but he has also signed another MoU with Rauf Hakeem, who is also the only other politico who has signed an agreement with Prabhakaran. What will be the future of nation when these three cowboys get together?