Leadership tussle will spell UNP's doom

By Jaliya Wijekoon

The bone of contention in political circles during the last few months, especially after the UNP's humiliating defeat especially at the last general election that the UNP's incumbent leader is mainly responsible for the party debacle. Hence there should be some change in the party hierarchy according to a few stalwarts and Hambantota District MP Sajith Premadasa is openly challenging the leadership saying that all high posts of the party should be elected by majority vote.

Committee appointed

A committee has been already appointed by the party to reorganise and reform the party structure and recommendations have been received which are now in the process of being scrutinised. There is a section of the party membership which clamours for a change of the leadership and they feel that a charismatic young leader will bring back the lost glory of the party at a future election. Another section of the party is happy with the present leader and only seeks some structural changes in the party mechanism.

However, with the latest developments in the party it has come to a stage where there is a open tussle for leadership by Sajith Premadasa over Ranil Wickremesinghe the incumbent leader of the party.

It is learnt that some of the area organisers are in a cold war against Ranil Wickremesinghe and persuade the membership to support Sajith Premadasa.

The leadership struggle in the United National Party is nothing new as it had existed from the time of the first Prime Minister.

When D.S. Senanayake was the Prime Minister, the leader of the House and the most educated and oldest Minister was S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. However, he knew that he would not succeed D.S. and that was one of the main reasons for S.W.R.D. to quit the UNP and form the SLFP.

Second Premier

As anticipated by S.W.R.D., Dudley Senanayake was appointed the Prime Minister following the untimely demise of D.S. Senanayake by Lord Soulbury, the Governor General of then Ceylon over an understanding he had with D.S. Senanayake.

Dudley Senanayake, though a Cambridge scholar was the youngest Minister, only 41 years of age and was very popular among the masses.

He completed the term and went for the election in 1952 and returned to power with a two-third majority. However, Sir John Kotalawala was not very happy over Dudley's leadership as he too was aspiring to become the Premier since he too was a senior member in the Cabinet. Sir John had constant disagreements with Dudley on various issues of the day and also mustered the support of some members and started to pick bones with Dudley practically on every proposition in the House. Dudley Senanayake, a mild-mannered gentleman and thorough democrat who loved his party stepped down from premiership and politics paving the way for Sir John to take over the reins of the country and the party.

Sir John became the third Prime Minister of Independent Ceylon and it was the beginning of the downfall of the UNP since its formation in 1946.

Sir John Kotalawala, a military man who was a tough, rigid and an outspoken personality who did not heed to the requests and pander to the heeds of some sections of the society, though he was forthright and an honest leader.

He had disagreements and conflicts even with the Maha Sangha over some issues as he was determined not to bow down to any one even at the cost of his prestigious post.

First UNP debacle

He held the general election in 1956 and the United National Party which had rendered an immense service to the nation since independence was swept out of power under his leadership, reducing its strength in the House to a mere eight members.

Sir John would have realised his political folly and lived in isolation until he passed away in 1979.

Dudley Senanayake regained the leadership of the United National Party and steered the party to its victory at the subsequent elections in 1960 and 1965 with the strong support of J.R. Jayewardene who was a formidable figure in the party.

J.R. Jayewardene was the first Finance Minister of Independent Ceylon under D.S. Senanayake's premiership and he was five years elder to Dudley. J.R. played an anchor role with Dudley to return to power in 1965 and was appointed Minister of State by Dudley Senanayake in his Cabinet and also as the leader of the House.

JR's ambition

J.R. Jayewardene also aimed at party leadership while Dudley was the leader and they even initiated legal action for the supremacy of the party which was eventually settled amicably without jeopardizing the party membership at large. Ranasinghe Premadasa who was the Deputy to Minister Thiruchelvam then was also a young aspirant for the leadership who had some differences of opinion with Dudley Senanayake over certain issues.

Ranasinghe Premadasa who was a great believer in astrology had an inkling that he would one day become the head of the state and groomed himself with innovative projects. He had disagreements with Dudley Senanayake over his Housing Project at Maligawatte which involved huge amounts of money then and also on the scheme of improvised twin-bridges Pottu Palam concept initiated by him.

But lo and behold all the problems were resolved peacefully with the leader of the party and continued to work to develop the party with all his skills and charisma.

Dudley's demise

However, the UNP was again defeated at the 1970 general election and the party was in political hibernation for some time and the party leader, Dudley Senanayake passed away in 1973. The undisputed deputy leader of the party J.R. Jayewardene became the leader of the party and started reorganising the party mechanism in the most unprecedented manner which attracted much public support while delegating organisational activities to his subordinates all over the country.

J.R. Jayewardene with a wealth of knowledge in practical politics and with the broad vision for the country following the most aggressive election campaign, won the 1977 general election with a historic five-sixth majority in the House.

J.R. formed the Government, appointed his Cabinet with his able lieutenants and then changed the constitution and became the Executive President of the country. Ranasinghe Premadasa was appointed Prime Minister in addition to his ministerial portfolio of Housing and Construction.

J.R. vested powers on his ministers and allowed them to establish their own political empires while working for the development of the country and consolidating the party membership.

JR's second term

However, JR's second term of office was not smooth sailing as he had to confront two major socio-political problems. LTTE terrorism was at its peak while the JVP unleashed its atrocities in the rest of the country. Ranasinghe Premadasa, the Prime Minister was not in favour of the Peace Accord signed by JR with his Indian counterpart, Rajiv Gandhi and boycotted the ceremony.

He vehemently rejected the Indian Peace Keeping Force, (IPKF) sent to Sri Lanka by Rajiv Gandhi. Meanwhile, J.R. Jayewardene groomed two of his abled lieutenants to succeed him but Ranasinghe Premadasa was determined to be the leader and set in motion all infrastructure requirements of the party to reach his goal.

After completing the second term as the Executive President JRJ retired from politics and R. Premadasa was elected party leader. Premadasa contested the subsequent presidential election and won comfortably over his main opponent Sirimavo Bandaranaike.Ranasinghe Premadasa virtually sidelined Lalith and Gamini who had made their mark in the political echelons and that was the beginning of the downfall of United National Party which had been strongly consolidated by J.R. Jayewardene.

Admittedly Ranasinghe Premadasa had done a great deal for the country and to uplift the living standards of downtrodden masses but at the same time some of his actions against these party stalwarts led to the gradual deterioration of the party.

New party

Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake and some other members brokeaway from the party and formed the DUNF under the Eagle symbol which was a fatal blow to the UNP membership.

Premadasa was assassinated on May 1 1993 and after a brief period of time during which a number of dramatic changes took place in the political arena and in the UNP. In 1994 Ranil Wickremesinghe became the party leader.

Statesmanship qualities

Ranil Wickremesinghe had displayed his statesmanship qualities and commitment to democracy with the transition of power after Premadasa's death and with the fall of the government by one majority vote in 1994.However, Ranil Wickremesinghe formed a government in 2001 with the support of a breakaway group from the PA headed by S.B. Dissanayake but he was unable to consolidate and continue due to a variety of reasons. Since then it has been a dismal failure by the United National Party at every successive election under Ranil's leadership.

With the recent humiliating defeat suffered by the party, Sajith Premadasa openly challenged Ranil's leadership and said that he would steer the party to victory at a future election if he is elected leader of the party.It is appropriate to scrutinise the circumstances why the UNP suffered such a humiliating defeat. Without pointing an accusing finger at the leadership alone for the party debacle, it is quite obvious that any sensible person in this country would say that winning the protracted 30-year-battle was the main reason for UPFA to return to power. That was the remarkable achievement of this government which helped it to win the last presidential election and it is certain that any election in the near future would be the same.

Cause for debacle

The United National Party has to look back at its activities to ascertain where it has gone wrong during the past few years.

(i) The UNP did not have a viable alternative program to the UPFA's Samurdhi Movement for the downtrodden masses.

(ii) There was no effective and attractive plan to muster support of unemployed youth in the country including graduates.

(iii) Grassroots level local organisations were not adequately strengthened by electoral organisers.

(iv) JSS, the trade union of the party should have been revamped and activated properly in all institutions.

(v) The Media unit of the party was not effective.

The following are some of the main reasons for the party debacle suffered at the last general election. The time is now opportune for all who love the party to rally round and systematically reorganise the party without apportioning the blame only on its leadership.There is no doubt that Ranil Wickremesinghe also has efficient young politicians who will be future leaders in the country. They include Dayasiri Jayasekera, Ravi Karunayake, Kabir Hashim, Rosy Senanayake, Mohan Lal Grero and Gayantha Karunathilake.

Ranil Wickremesinghe should delegate more powers and responsibilities to them while seeking the advice and support of senior members in the party on all issues related to party development and future political decisions. Sajith Premadasa should be reminded of his late fathers triple C (consultation, compromise and consensus) formula in handling vital political issues without him making sweeping statements which will reflect negatively on his future political career. There is no doubt that Sajith Premadasa is a formidable upcoming young leader who is loved by the party membership but its too early for him to take over the reins of the party since he is yet to prove his capabilities as a veteran politician.

It's now time for Ranil Wickremesinghe and all other top rung members of the party to shed differences and resolve shortcomings and misunderstandings and re-group as a single unit and plan to win a future election. Unless these lapses are redressed, winning a future election for the United National Party to would be a day dream.