Whither UNP leadership......?

By Jaliya WIJEKOON

The United National Party (UNP), the second oldest political party in the country which was formed by the first Prime Minister of Ceylon, the Right Honourable D. S. Senanayake, ruled our country for about 30 years under different leaders.

Great visionary

D.S. Senanayake who had a great vision for the country initiated a number of mega development projects to uplift the socio-economic standards of the people. The greatest achievement during his tenure of office was winning independence from the colonial rule after 133 years of bondage.

He was well poised to lead the country for a brighter future at the time that he had a sudden death falling off the horse while on his regular exercises at Galle Face Green. After the death of D.S. Senanayake, his eldest son, Dudley Senanayake who was the Minister of Agriculture in the Cabinet was appointed Prime Minister by Lord Soulbury, the then Governor of Independent Ceylon over an understanding that he had with D.S. Senanayake prior to his untimely demise. Dudley Senanayake, a Cambridge scholar became the party leader as well and guided the party and won the subsequent election held in 1953 with a two-third majority and was unanimously elected as Prime Minister for the second consecutive term.

However, with the passage of time his second term was not very rosy for him as there were some conflicts and differences of opinion on various issues from his own party stalwarts. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike broke away from the party and formed the MEP while Sir John Kotalawela targeted the prestigious position of Prime Minister and the leadership of the party. Dudley, a mild hearted leader stepped down from the leadership and politics paving the way for Sir John to take over the reins of the party.

Military personality

Sir John Kotalawela more of a military personality was not a successful party leader and the party was swept out of power at the next election. Sir John never returned to politics and lived in isolation the rest of his life with the debacle suffered by the party under his leadership.

Dudley and JR got together and reorganised the party and attained power again on two occasions under Dudley's leadership but not without internal conflicts which Dudley and JR sorted out amicably.

Dudley Senanayake passed away in 1973 and the undisputed deputy leader JR took over the reins of the party and revolutionised the organisation mechanism of the party and led it to a five sixth victory at the 1977 election.

Shrewd leader

J. R. Jayewardene commanded the respect of all and nobody ever dared to challenge his leadership until he completed his second term. A number of changes took place in the socio-economic sphere and the lives of people during his tenure as the first executive president of Sri Lanka. President Jayewardene also had some differences of opinion with some of his Ministers during the latter period of his second term. But no one openly challenged him except Gamini Jayasuriya who relinquished his duties from his portfolio over the disagreement he had with President Jayewardene on signing the controversial Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord.

J.R. Jayewardene virtually groomed two of his able lieutenants to take over the party leadership after his retirement during which period Ranasinghe Premadasa prepared himself as a formidable force and finally JR had to give way to Ranasinghe Premadasa as he has made all infrastructure requirements with the majority membership support.

Practical politician

This second executive President Ranasinghe Premadasa formed his Cabinet and appointed D. B. Wijetunga as the Prime Minister to the surprise of Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, who was a less formidable figure among party contenders to the prestigious post. When we read, scrutinise and analyse the party history, one can easily come to the conclusion that the gradual erosion of the United National Party commenced with the sidelining of Gamini Dissanayake and Lalith Athulathmudali by President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

President Premadasa gave pride of place to people such as Sirisena Cooray, Wimal Wickremasinghe, U.B. Wijekoon, Ranjan Wijeratne and a few others.

Within a short period of time President Premadasa had to face grave problems from all quarters.

LTTE terrorism was in full swing in the North while the JVP was involved in the height of its terror indiscriminately killing forces personnel, politicians, artistes, intellectuals and even members of the Buddhist clergy who aired their views against the JVP movement.

Impeachment motion

In addition two burning catastrophies, he was confronted with-another internal conflict orchestrated by his own party stalwarts with the support of the entire Opposition, the Impeachment motion. Premadasa though not a scholar, veteran practical politician who had gone through the mill, immediately prorogued Parliament and handled the situation in such a manner that some of the party members who signed the impeachment motion withdrew their signatures.

Premadasa sailed through the turbulent and rough political waves and reached the shore safely from this issue.

However, Lalith Athulathmudali, Gamini Dissanayake and 10 other sitting parliamentarians left the party and formed the DUNF under the symbol of the Eagle.

President Premadasa was assassinated on May 1, 1993 and D.B. Wijetunga became the President and Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed Prime Minister.

Ranil Wickremesinghe was the chief architect in handling the transition situation of power following the sudden death of President Premadasa and it was lauded by world leaders. In similar situations in some other countries there had been mass scale bloodshed and chaotic situations prevailed for days and days.

That was the very first time that Ranil Wickremesinghe displayed his degree of statesmanship to the entire world which was appreciated by all national and international leaders.

Demoralised

However, with the untimely death of President Premadasa the UNP became slightly demoralised and the People's Alliance was gaining ground in the political sphere with the arrival of Chandrika Kumaratunga into active politics.

President Wijetunga dissolved Parliament in 1993 and went for the election six months prior to the scheduled date and lost the election by one majority vote in the House.

Dramatic changes

Gamini Dissanayake who had re-entered the UNP by that time wanted to form a government with the support of A. H. M. Ashraff but Ranil Wickremesinghe gracefully bowed down to the people's verdict and resigned from the Premiership and left Temple Trees peacefully proving his commitment to democracy. and statesmanship qualities again to the entire world.

However, there were a number of dramatic changes and unfortunate incidents in the party and some party leaders and finally the party leadership was again thrust upon Ranil Wickremesinghe. He formed a government in 2001 with the able assistance of a breakaway group from the PA including S. B. Dissanayake and five others. However, he was unable to consolidate and continue in power owing to a variety of reasons.

Not practical

It is an accepted fact even by his opponents that Ranil Wickremesinghe is a far above average a politician who possesses an ocean of knowledge in parliamentary affairs, national and international politics, bilateral and multilateral issues and who can easily get on to any international forum.

But most unfortunately according to some party representatives he is condemned to be a leader who could never rise to be a national leader since he is not a practical politician who can comprehend the pulse of the masses of the country.

Political analysts may express different views regarding the vicissitudes of major party existence. But if you focus deeply, your attention to the debacle of the UNP during the past few years, it is quite evident that there are a few reasons why the UNP has lost its popularity with the people at large.

Approach to LTTE terrorism

The ceasefire agreement Ranil Wickremesinghe signed with Velupillai Prabhakaran even without the knowledge of his party leaders never paid dividends in the interest of the country. Ranil Wickremesinghe and a few of his close confidants defended it in the House. They overestimated the strength of the LTTE military power and sought the assistance of foreign powers to arrive at a negotiated settlement while President Mahinda Rajapaksa was determined to crush it militarily once and for all. Ranil Wickremesinghe and some Opposition members ridiculed some of the efforts, taken by the government to vanquish the LTTE leadership saying that it was militarily impossible.

No helping hand was extended to the Rajapaksa administration even at the latter stages of the conflict where Prabhakaran's doomsday was virtually written on the wall.

Irrespective of party affiliations, the masses in the country voted Mahinda Rajapaksa into power for the second term as a token of gratitude at the last presidential election for wiping out LTTE terrorism.

After the resounding victory of a Presidential election, it is not possible for the opposition to win an immediate parliamentary election. This has been proved at past elections in our country.

Leadership challenged

However, with the humiliating defeat suffered by the party at the last general election Ranil Wickremesinghe's leadership has been challenged by party stalwarts. Some of the party members are of the opinion that Ranil Wickremesinghe is solely responsible for the downfall of the party not only at the last election but also at all successive elections since 2004.

Some senior members in the party categorically state that there should be drastic changes in the party mechanism and it should be restructured with powers vested in the lower rankers in the party beginning from Pradeshiya Sabha members.

A grandson of the founder of the UNP Rukman Senanayake openly criticises the leadership and claims that Ranil Wickremesinghe should be ousted and replaced with Sajith Premadasa who would easily lead the party to a future election victory.

Sajith Premadasa has told many press briefings that he is prepared to accept the leadership of the party provided he is elected by a majority vote of the sitting members of the party.

In the backdrop of all these developments and allegations Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that he is ready to quit the leadership if the majority party members feel so.

The present scenario is a very crucial period for the UNP and it is not possible to predict what type of changes will take place in the party during the next two to three weeks. Party supporters are anxiously waiting to see the reforms and whether they would be of any use in future for the party to regain power.