True leadership, the beacon of light for any political party

By Jaliya Wijeyekoon

D.S. Senanayake

J.R. Jayewardene

Ranil Wickremesinghe

Sajith Premadasa

Imithias Bakeer Markar

When D.S. Senanayake, his son Dudley Senanayake and J.R. Jayewardene were ruling 'monarchs in the country, nobody would have ever dreamed of cracks appearing in the monolith, the UNP. Today, everything has changed in the political arena and the UNP is no exception.

D.S. was the founding father and architect of this great party while J.R. was the Moses who salvaged the party from being humiliated into a premature death and rebuilt the party with tremendous sacrifice.

What has gone wrong with the UNP today is everybody’s worry.

By now over 60 UNP MPs including some party stalwarts who hold prominent ministerial portfolios in the UPFA Government have left the party in the lurch.

This dealt a serious blow to the party which still struggles to wriggle out from its malaise. Issues still simmering under the carpet are likely to erupt at any time.

The strength of a political party depends largely on the faith the party membership reposes in the leadership.It was because of such faith that the SLFP appointed Sirimavo Bandaranaike as the party leader, which helped the SLFP to rule the country for over 12 years in two terms in the past.

The current crisis in the party is attributed on its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who appears to be determined to have a firm grip on the party as his guru JRJ did.

JRJ took over the reins of the UNP with the demise of Dudley Senanayake in 1973 and became the President of the country after a long, arduous and cumbersome political journey of over three and a half decades.

In terms of experience, social status and age, he was unrivalled.

UNP-ship

Ranil Wickremesinghe needs more time, circumspection and patience to pilot the UNP ship against political storms. It is a miracle that the UNP is still surviving despite being emasculated after 62 of its parliamentarians deserted the party and strengthened the ruling party.

This should give hope and grit to the party leader to think twice and embrace all party cadres back to its fold, rather than alienate them from the party mainstream.

A classic lesson to be learnt from JRJ is to give pride of place in the party to the emerging youth and to accommodate them rather than drive them to estrangement.

Lalith and Gamini were JRJ’s able lieutenants in whom he reposed utmost confidence; they formed the main pillars of the party.

Today, the UNP’s decision-making body, the Working Committee” is contemptuously referred to as gerontocracy, in political circles.

Adding insult to injury, Wickremesinghe last December got his position consolidated in the party for a further six years amidst objections from a group of party members including its deputy leader Sajith Premadasa. However, at the end of the convention, everybody agreed to work in harmony for the betterment of the party with the intention of forming a UNP government in the near future.

Alarm signals

Other high positions of the party except the deputy leadership were filled when the Working Committee, headed by Leader Wickremesinghe met last week.Some UNP MPs and party supporters, especially those in the periphery, were shell shocked to hear the news of uncertainty cast on Premadasa when the leader himself postponed filling deputy leaders post, perhaps to impress upon all that party discipline is no respector of persons.

”Coming colours no good” is the alarm signal given to Premadasa who has by now strengthened his touch with the masses with his Sasunata Aruna flagship campaign and other multifaceted social service projects.

Premadasa says he is not bothered about positions in the party, but remains with the masses and continue to work for the party to ensure its success at a future election. It is premature to guess what success he would enjoy as a solo performer in politics.

Internal unity among the top brass of any political party is vital for its successful survival. This has been proven beyond doubt when history of some political parties in the country as well as in other countries where democracy is practised is scrutinised.

In any democratic party, there could be leaders who bear different views on certain vital issues, but it is the duty of the incumbent leader to handle his subordinates tactfully, diplomatically and with patience for the greater interest of the betterment of the party. It is quite natural that when a once prominent political party is bogged down in the Opposition for a long time, internal party crisis erupt. Similar problems were experienced by the SLFP when it was in the Opposition for a long time. However, it reconsolidated and achieved power in 1994.

Young politicians

J.R. Jayewardene was one of the most astute and courageous politicians ever produced in this country and Wickremesinghe should follow his footsteps in dealing with party stalwarts. JR never harboured grudges against any young and upcoming politicians although some youngesters went against him in the early seventies over certain political issues.

Imithias Bakeer Markar was one of the young and vociferous speakers at that time who wanted JR expelled from the party.

However, when JR became the leader of the party, he appointed Bakeer Markar as the president of the All Ceylon Youth League of the United National Party and allowed him to establish his political career.

Bakeer Markar gradually and steadily climbed the political ladder and became the most respected Muslim political leader in the UNP. He was also elected Vice President of the party and was loved by all.

But to the utter dismay and surprise of the party membership, he was stripped of all his positions in the party as he proposed Ranjith Madduma Bandara to the post of national organiser at

the last party election. However, he says that he will never go against the UNP as he considers it a ‘sacred party’.

It is the general belief among the membership that the incumbent leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe has to mend his ways, shed all petty differences and regroup the disintegrated factions of the party, if he is genuinely interested in forming a UNP government at a future election.

The people are faced with the ever increasing cost of living in addition to a multitude of other crucial issues and it is the prime duty and the responsibility of the main Opposition to mobilise the masses to establish a new administration under the UNP banner.

The UNP’s grassroot level membership from all corners of the country anxiously wait to see the leader working hand in hand with all other higher-ups in the party to achieve victory and regain the party’s lost glory.

The UNP grassroot level membership is generally happy about some of the new faces of the party who had made their mark in the political arena in the recent past. Badulla District Parliamentarian Harin Fernando, Kalutara District Parliamentarian Ajith P. Perera, Eastern Provincial Council Opposition Leader Daya Gamage and Sabaragamuwa PC Opposition Leader Dr. Thusitha Wijemanne are some of them whose services would be of immense importance to the forward march of the party.

Whither the UNP? The answer lies with the leader.