Despite internal rift :

UNP’s CMC victory confounds reformists

By Jaliya WIJEYEKOON

The Local Government elections of 2011 which were held in three phases concluded with the last phase being held on October 8. It was a cake walk for the ruling UPFA which won over 80 percent of the local bodies including some Councils which were considered UNP bastions in the past. The resounding victory the Government received clearly demonstrates the continued public faith reposed in the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime and its policies and principles.

The United National Party, which had gone through a lean period during the past few years due to a variety of reasons, recorded its worst ever debacle in history at the 2011 Local Elections and its vote base shrank to below 20 percent in some of the areas which were under their rule in the past.

However, the United National Party secured the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) as the party had launched an aggressive election campaign against the UPFA which spared no pains to capture power there as it was the centre of attraction for all political leaders. The CMC had been under the UNP since its inception, except for a short spell in the mid-fifties when Dr. N.M. Perera had been elected Mayor.

During the run-up to the election, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and all frontrunners of the party had been heavily involved in the propaganda activities in the CMC area, sinking petty differences in the interest of the party, as speculation was rife in some quarters that the United National Party would meet its waterloo unless they secure power in the CMC, considered the cradle of the party.

Following the promulgation of the CMC results in the morning of October 9, the party heaved a sigh of relief, despite losing all its former bastions including Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Dehiwala-Mt. Lavinia and Kolonnawa.

Two groups

It is an open secret that the United National Party is divided into two groups - Ranil’s group and Sajith’s group-over the leadership issue. When this problem reached a crescendo, the UNP held its Annual Convention on December 12, 2010 and made some amendments to its Constitution. Sajith Premadasa who was eyeing the leadership, settled for Co-Deputy leadership of the party, to the consternation of some of the dissident members of the reformist group.

The main contention of the reformist group is that the reason for the string of election defeats of the party was the unpolitical attitude of the present leader and his dictatorial manner of handling the political affairs of the party. The reformist group headed by Sajith Premadasa is fully supported by Parliamentarians including Buddhika Pathirana, Rosy Senanayake, Sujeewa Serasinghe, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Dayasiri Jayasekera, Thalatha Athukorala and Dinesh Gankanda. Several former Parliamentarians including

Rukman Senanayake and Imithiaz Bakeer Marker also support Sajith Premadasa along with some sitting Provincial Councillors and local body members.

When the 2011 Local Government elections were announced, the UNP hierarchy didn’t accommodate some of the vociferous dissident members as they were unreasonably critical of the present leadership. Some of them had contested these Councils as independent candidates and ate humble pie.

The reformist group did not seem to favour A.J.M. Muzammil’s candidature and instead promoted former Minister Imithiaz Bakeer Marker as the Mayoral candidate. However, subsequently they accepted Muzammil since he was unanimously elected by the nomination board as the Mayoral candidate.

Ranil Wickremesinghe spearheaded the campaign in Colombo with A.J.M. Muzammil and visited all shanties, slums and temporary dwellings in all corners of the Colombo City, educating the voters about the present situation and the dangers that would occur in the event of a UPFA victory.

Reforming Parliamentarians

During the run-up to the election, reformist Parliamentarians such as Sajith Premadasa, Buddhika Pathirana, Dayasiri Jayasekera, Thalatha Athukorala, Dinesh Gankanda and Ranjith Madduma Bandara were busy in their electorates and districts, campaigning for the local body candidates whom they had recommended for the fray.

A little bird said that Matara district reformist Parliamentarian Buddhika Pathirana and Western Provincial Councillor Shiral Laktillake had encouraged independent groups since their nominees were not accommodated by the party hierarchy for the 2011 local elections. These dissident politicians are now in hot water as their party memberships have been suspended by the leadership, pending disciplinary inquiries over the alleged misdemeanour.

However, reformist group leader Sajith Premadasa has assured them that he would do his utmost to protect the rights of the duo.

The overall results of the 2011 Local Government election clearly reveal that all local councils in the electorates and districts represented by reformist group-members, had lost badly, a clear indication of their poor performance as electoral organisers. All reformist group members have been accusing the party leadership for its poor performance at successive elections in the past. But they should realise that Ranil Wickremesinghe, under his leadership, secured the CMC for the party inspite of the aggressive campaign launched by the Central Government.

Meanwhile, the Councils under the purview of reformist members were unable to even retain their former vote bases, leave alone win them for the party. This proves that their misguided claim is no longer valid and the time is ripe for them to seriously consider working in harmony with the leadership as a single unit without further jeopardising the party and ruining their own personal political careers.

The results of the Hambantota Municipal Council and Pradeshiya Sabhas at the recently concluded LG polls had proved that the Co-Deputy leader of the party, Sajith Premadasa had not made any impact or influence to attract new votes to the party.

Matara Municipal Council (MMC) which had been under UNP rule in the past, secured only five members as against nine for the UPFA. There was a set of breakaway members from the UNP who contested as an independent group with the blessings of a vociferous dissident Parliamentarian from the district but was unable to secure even a single seat in the Council though they were confident of winning a minimum of three members.

Even if the votes polled by the UNP and the breakaway group were put together, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference on the final results of the MMC.

Lackadaisical manner

The Ratnapura Municipal Council (RMC) is another important local body in the island which had been under UNP rule for the most number of terms since its inception. During the last term it was under the UPFA and the UNP had fared even worse at the 2011 LG polls, reducing the number of its elected members to four as against five in the last term.

UNP candidates who contested the RMC were unhappy over the lackadaisical manner in which the district leader Thalatha Athukorala handled the election campaign during the first two weeks and then left the island for a holiday when the campaign was gathering momentum. The district leaders of the UPFA were heavily involved in their campaign during the entire period of the election, resulting in a resounding victory for the party.

The Kurunegala Municipal Council, which had been under UNP rule for a long time, right up to the last term, also suffered its worst debacle at the 2011 LG polls although reformist group Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekera made some effort to win support for the party.

In the Gampaha Municipal Council, which was under the able stewardship of Ajith Mannapperuma for some time in the past, the UNP suffered a humiliating defeat at the 2011 LG polls securing only three slots as against 14 by the UPFA. This is quite understandable as Government heavyweight Basil Rajapaksa, the district leader, has done an immense service for the area in the recent past. Now that the elections are over and there is no other means to test their strength until 2013, the UNP leaders should make a deep analysis of the party performances at recent elections without making unnecessary, unwarranted and disparaging remarks against each other and further demoralising the grass roots level membership.

Scrutinising results

When the results are scrutinised on a regional basis, it is quite evident that a substantial percentage of voters in almost all areas have abstained from exercising their franchise right; over 75 percent of them are ‘UNP sympathisers’. Most UNP supporters are of the view that the Party will not bounce back to power as they have constant internal conflicts among front-runners of the party.

The time has come for the reformist group members, UNP leadership and all other top leaders to sink their differences and adopt a give-and-take policy and re-organise the party if they are genuinely interested in a future victory. All vociferous leaders should realise that there are party supporters all over the country who have immense love for the UNP. They are extremely disappointed and demoralised when remarks are made by the reformist group members over the media against the leadership.

It had been observed during the recent past that there are a substantial percentage of youngsters all over the country who are crestfallen due to the lack of employment opportunities and various other political reasons. Their support could be easily garnered for the party if their internal unity is maintained and a clear future program of work is presented. Effective and efficient organisers should be appointed to vacant electorates.

Unless these problems are resolved the United National Party will be unable to re-group and strengthen its islandwide vote base and pose a challenge to the UPFA Government at a future election.