Writing on the wall for UNP

Has the United National Party (UNP) given up hope even before the April 8 general election? The senior bigwigs of the party have been surprisingly silent while a few others are begging support from the masses to secure at least 85 seats - a mere ten more than one-third of the 225-seat Assembly at the forthcoming elections.

While a few steadfast senior UNPers are working round the clock, Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is apparently taking things easy, enjoying himself to the hilt with his old schoolmates, singing and dancing with his ‘right Royal’ colleagues as was evident at the Royal-Thomian big match.

The UNP secured only 84 seats at the last general election in 2004. Of the 84 seats, half of the MPs crossed over to the Government before one could even say boo. There was a time when Wickremesinghe was in danger of losing even his post of Opposition Leader to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which held 39 seats at the time.

Though some UNP MPs and a few hundred die-hard supporters were under a delusion during the presidential election campaign, Wickremesinghe saw the writing on the wall for Sarath Fonseka. The disgraced retired general was eventually used as a scapegoat to put paid to Wickremesinghe’s string of defeats.

Had Wickremesinghe contested the January presidential poll, he would have suffered the third consecutive defeat which could have been a world record for an Opposition Leader. Nevertheless, he strategically evaded further humiliation by keeping his party out of a major election after 62 long years and decided to support Fonseka.

The hidden agenda of Wickremesinghe, to retain the post of Opposition Leader, came to light when the general election was announced. Though he literally ‘used’ Fonseka to conveniently skip the presidential election, Wickremesinghe was by no means willing to contest the general election under the same alliance and Fonseka’s leadership and forfeit his current post of Opposition Leader, of which he seems to be more than satisfied.

Whatever said and done, it must be admitted that Wickremesinghe is an astute politician who could visualise the political trends. He was acutely conscious that he could not take on President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the last presidential election. Similarly, he is fully aware that his maximum achievement at the forthcoming general election is the post of Opposition Leader. He was certainly not willing to sacrifice that post for Fonseka and ignored the JVP’s call to contest under the Swan, their former alliance symbol.

The UNP has set a target of 85 seats, one more than what they secured six years ago. Having languished in the Opposition for six long years and accusing the Government on various issues, they are willing to settle for one extra seat. This only goes to prove that the UNPers are convinced that the masses strongly support the President and would endorse the Mahinda Chinthana policies and the good work of the UPFA Government.

By targeting 85 seats, as claimed by many senior UNP leaders, they have openly admitted that the UPFA would head to a close two-thirds majority at the next Parliament.

On the other hand, the JVP seems to be day-dreaming, assuming that they could ‘capture’ power under Fonseka, who is now in detention. Having failed to capture power through the bullet twice, the JVP made another futile attempt by overrating Fonseka at the presidential election. Having lost the UNP’s support for Fonseka at the forthcoming general election campaign, the JVP still claims that they could emerge victorious.

The JVP is making a concerted effort to woo the sympathy vote by projecting Fonseka. Little do the JVP leaders know that there is barely any sympathy for Fonseka from any quarter for the greatest betrayals he had committed. His ‘white flag interview’, which he hoped would take our valiant Security Forces before a possible war crimes tribunal, and the controversial interview to the LTTE-sympathetic Channel 4 television proved beyond a shadow of doubt his true colours.

The UNP and the JVP would have to eat humble pie after the April 8 general election and would be politically eliminated after the people declare their mandate. Though the JVP initially secured 41 seats after the 2004 general election, they are finding it increasingly difficult to secure even one tenth of it. The UNP has set a target of 85 seats and Wickremesinghe is assured of work at his Cambridge Place office for another six years.

In this backdrop, a landslide victory for the UPFA is abundantly clear. The masses are eagerly waiting to pledge support to President Rajapaksa for a stronger Parliament - that he could win the ‘economic war’ during his second term as the Head of State.

President Rajapaksa gave the right political leadership to the Security Forces to eliminate LTTE terror and liberate the country. Similarly, the President would ‘liberate’ people in rural areas from poverty and usher in economic prosperity too. He is focused and determined to achieve his goal.

The Mahinda Chinthana Idiri Dakma, a rich policy statement, would take Sri Lanka to greater heights to face future challenges. President Rajapaksa is determined to make Sri Lanka the wonder of Asia and this would not be an uphill task if all Sri Lankans rally round him and show their solidarity. We must bear in mind the international conspiracies that were hatched behind the scenes. The best response the masses could give is to show their gratitude by uniting under the Lion flag. Let’s shed our petty political affiliations and strengthen the vision of the leader who enabled all Sri Lankans to stand tall as one nation with a clear-cut foreign policy as a sovereign country.