Restoring UNP image - an uphill task

By Jaliya WIJEYEKOON

D. S. Senanayake	Dudley Senanayake	J. R. Jayewardene	R. Premadasa

The United National Party has rendered an invaluable service to the country since its inception in 1946 under a number of leaders, beginning with its founder leader D. S. Senanayake.

D. S. Senanayake, although not a very educated person or an intellectual in comparison to his contemporaries, had a great vision for the future of the country and initiated a number of development projects, specially to promote agriculture which had been badly neglected during the colonial rule of over 13 decades.

He had an able rank of lieutenants in his Cabinet to support his endeavours which he successfully carried out during the short period of his premiership.

The United National Party took root in all corners of the country mainly due to the charismatic leadership of D.S. Senanayake, followed by Dudley Senanayake who was a very soft-hearted, people-friendly Cambridge scholar who also believed in the development of agriculture to uplift the living standards of the countrymen.

Ranil Wickremesinghe	Sajith Premadasa

The United National Party rapidly progressed as a formidable political force though it was not the first political party to be introduced in Sri Lanka. Under Dudley Senanayake's leadership a large number of promising young provincial UNP leaders emerged who later became cabinet ministers and did a great service to the country.

Party stalwarts

Almost all of them were well educated affluent and people of standing calibre who commanded the respect of the public of the provinces. Most of them consolidated their positions in the electorates and became stalwarts of the United National Party. Some of them were defeated at the subsequent elections held in 1956 and in 1970 but they bounced back to power at the next election and rendered a yeoman service to their areas and to the country at large, until they stepped down from politics voluntarily.

When J. R. Jayewardene became the leader of the United National Party following the demise of Dudley Senanayake in 1973, he restructured the party mechanism and effected changes in organisational activities in keeping with the prevailing political atmosphere of the country. J.R. Jayewardene was a seasoned, experienced and shrewd politician who was familiar with the political techniques and tactics of his opponents picked a large number of new faces from different electorates in the island and appointed them as electoral organisers.

It was the first time that United National Party appointed some candidates from ordinary background without considering their financial stability, professional qualifications or the respect they commanded by the public in the areas.

What JRJ aspired for was sheer commitment, dedication and the ability to win the next election with his newcomers since he had already had earmarked his Cabinet with the able lieutenants who were certain to enter Parliament at the polls.

J.R. Jayewardene was supported by his trustworthy second rung leaders such as R. Premadasa, Gamini Dissanayake, Cyril Mathew and Anandatissa de Alwis.

District leaders

In addition to the newcomers who entered Parliament in 1977 from different districts, he had senior district leaders such as E.L. Senanayake from the Kandy district, Bakeer Markar from the Kalutara district, P. C. Imbulana from the Kegalle district, Aboosally and G. V. Punchinilame from the Ratnapura district, A. M. S. Adhikari from the Anuradhapura district, Rupa Karunathilaka from the Galle district, Naina Marrikkar from the Puttalam district, D. B. Welagadera from the Kurunegala district and H. G. P. Nelson from the Polonnaruwa district.

Similar district leaders in almost all districts worked hard and implemented the policies of the Jayewardene regime. All these district leaders commanded the respect and enlisted the co-operation of newcomers which resulted in the consolidation of the United National Party's strength all over the country.

All these dynamic district leaders worked continuously for the benefit of the public and paid special attention towards the party supporters in granting employment opportunities in the government sector.

Party promotional activities were conducted regularly in their electorates and districts and relevant reports and records were submitted to the party headquarters. At this time in history, the United National Party became very strong and the Opposition was virtually relegated to oblivion in the political arena.

Having completed two terms as the Executive President J.R.J. stepped down from national politics and Ranasinghe Premadasa took over the leadership of the United National Party and steered the party towards victory at the Presidential and subsequent general election. Premadasa didn't have to toil much to win the election since the party was well consolidated by that time under JR's Presidency except for some hiccups with the Indo-Lanka Accord.

However, President Premadasa sidelined some of the most efficient, powerful and popular figures who had earned the respect and command of the party to the utter dismay and surprise of the UNP membership. He gave pride of place to his loyalists who were far behind compared to those whom he sidelined.

This unwise move of President Premadasa had an adverse effect on the party mechanism and dark shadows started appearing among the membership.

A political analyst who scrutinised the reasons for the gradual deterioration of the United National Party during the past 15 years said that the beginning of the collapse of the party commenced with this shortsighted and unwise decision of President Premadasa.

Premadasa assassinated

President Premadasa was assassinated in 1993 by an LTTE suicide bomber and there were dramatic changes in the United National Party since then. After a series of misfortunes suffered by the UNP, the leadership was thrust upon Ranil Wickremesinghe in 1994, who was the Prime Minister for a brief period following the untimely death of President Premadasa and amply displayed his sheer commitment to democracy when they lost the Parliamentary elections in 1994 by a single vote.

Ranil Wickremesinghe became the leader of the opposition when Gamini Dissanayake was assassinated at the election rally by an LTTE suicide bomber.

Ranil Wickremesinghe managed to form a UNP government in 2001 with the support of the dissidents from the Chandrika regime headed by S. B. Dissanayake who was the general secretary of the SLFP at the time and senior ministers such as Prof. G. L. Peiris, Bandula Gunewardene and a few others.

He appointed a cabinet of ministers but certain prominent members were not given their due place by Ranil Wickremesinghe which resulted in creating displeasure among them.

Political blunder

Ranil Wickremesinghe's biggest political blunder was the signing of the infamous ceasefire agreement with Velupillai Prabhakaran even without the knowledge of his cabinet colleagues which was fully in favour of the Tigers.

His strategy in solving the issue with the mediation of foreign nations never paid any dividends but it worsened and the movement was further strengthened.

Wrong decision

In the meantime, certain measures taken by the Ranil Wickremesinghe's government to stabilise the economy also did not have the desired effect.

The Cessation of state sector employment by a government circular issued by Charitha Ratwatte dealt a severe blow on the job aspirants and the dissension erupted even among the UNP youth. By this time the JVP turned aggressive against the government and pressurised Chandrika Kumarathunga to dissolve Parliament soon after taking over three key ministries. Ranil's two-year-old government was swept out of power at the election and since then the UNP cut a sorry figure in the political arena. The main reason for its debacle was the wrong stand taken by the party in solving the most vital issue of the day, the eradication of ruthless terrorism.

Ranil Wickremesinghe grossly over estimated the military strength of LTTE and never thought that it could be militarily crushed by Sri Lanka's valiant forces. Some of the UNP top brass members even ridiculed 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 Prabhakarans dooms day was virtually written on the wall.

If one were to scrutinise UNP activities while in the Opposition in the past, it is evident that the former leaders had mainly focused their attention on consolidating and enhancing the membership while performing the Opposition leader's duties and obligations in the House with the consensus of senior members of the party. It is doubtful whether the present Opposition leader worked in the interest of the party development in the past so many years.

Unlike the previous party leaders Ranil Wickremesinghe does not have any innovative or viable program or any particular project which would attract young people to his fold.

Neither has he any prospective plan for the rural vote base which could garner majority support. After the humiliating defeat suffered by the party at the last presidential election and the subsequent general election, Ranil's leadership has been challenged by Sajith Premadasa, the young MP for Hambantota who has already marshalled the forces in favour of him.

Party membership is in a quandary as to what would be their future with these latest developments. Some senior party leaders are at loggerheads with one another on various issues which eventually affects party supporters.

At the last, general elections most of the UNP strongholds had been badly defeated and the hardcore activists are completely demoralised.

Most of the provincial UNP leaders who commanded the respect of the people in their districts brokeaway from the party and joined the government over the past few years due to various disagreements with the party hierarchy which resulted in weakening the party strength further.

In the backdrop of all these negatives developments whoever becomes the party leader at the next national convention which is to due to be held late this year, will have an uphill task in restoring the party's image and guiding it to a future victory.