Ranil Should Go
Ranil at the UNP office on election day
If anyone should step down, it’s Ranil Wickremesinghe. This is the umpteenth loss he’s been in and he tossed the dude overboard as soon as it was over. Ranil said it was a free and fair election when A) it wasn’t, it was merely tolerable by execrable standards and B) Sarath was saying he didn’t agree with the results. From the body language at the conference table, Sarath was always leaning JVP, but perhaps that’s because they work harder and run an active opposition. I was in the UNP office and they have good machinery, but Ranil doesn’t work it. We saw during this election the positive changes a confident opposition can make simply by forcing the government to compete. But Ranil isn’t the leader for that. He’s just waiting for the stars to align in 2016.
It’s damn nonsense though. The country needs an opposition not as a placeholder between elections but as an active part of the government. Holding them to task, demanding certain things, forcing them to compete for the peoples affection. That results in better governance for everybody, from any party. Most of the intelligent people in the UNP have already crossed to the government and Ranil just holds sway over the loyal rump. And he’s sitting on it. I like the guy, respect him and think he’s really smart. But he’s also failed. I’m pretty smart but when I fail at stuff I try to step down and let someone else have a go. It’s nothing personal.
Sarath tried in this election, he put everything on the line and he never stopped fighting. If anybody failed it’s Ranil, and he should step down. Six more years of Mahinda is going to be annoying, but six more years of Ranil in opposition is way too much status quo for me. I’ve been saying this for years now, but this is one big test and he failed it. Not only was he unable to run, he was unwillingly to field a UNP candidate for the first time ever and the candidate he backed lost. I dunno, perhaps he wanted him to lose. Either way, he failed. More importantly, that candidate showed how little work Ranil had really been putting into the role of opposition leader.
For the good of the UNP, the country and himself, Ranil should go.
Today on the 
Janith has updated 
This is highly dubious. Miss Travel is a travel/social networking site that connects ‘Generous’ and ‘Attractive’ travelers. To, like, travel together, I guess. It all seems a bit like arranged prostitution and trafficking. This is part of a broader online trend to connect rich men to younger, attractive women. Sites like 
Sri Lankan domestics never say anything, they just stop coming. My maid just stopped coming and when I finally pressed her she said I needed to get a washing machine. I was hoping to ride this one out, but I’ve run out of underwear and I have no choice. I finally caved and bought a washing machine, from 
ok, Ranil should go?
then, who is next? who shall you recommend as the next leader for UNP?
what is wrong with Sajith ?
I think SF would be a better choice??
No. You got it wrong, 2018.
G.L Peiris just announced MR will take oaths only in Nov 2011
I think you have hit the nail on the head.Ranil has drained UNP of it’s status.He is destroying the party,the supporters, the people and gives a bad image of the country.He should be thrown out by the party.But I think the UNP constitution,which is very cunningly designed and implemented by JR Jayawardana, stands in the way and he is using it effectively and cunningly,with the help of other cronies around him, to occupy that seat.I voted for Mahinda.He is the leader this country has been waiting for since independence from British.I do agree that there are a lot of weaknesses in his governing system, but frankly I don’t think he had much of a choice but to accommodate all those who wanted to join him without appointing them to cabinet.Again due to restrictions by constitution on the members of the opposition who want to cross-over.I think Mahinda genuinely wants to get rid of the jumbo cabinet,improve government service etc. etc. and I think he deserves a second term in office to try and do that.I also think a longer term by a stable government and a President,coupled with a strong opposition would actually bring good results for the country.I never liked Sarath running for presidency because it was obvious that the man was having ulterior motives.But what it did was to prove, as you rightly pointed out, that a strong opposition could definitely motivate the people and ensure a very practical and a healthy balance in governance.Keep the ruling party under check.Ranil has failed miserably and repeatedly in doing this.HE SHOULD DEFINITELY GO!
Ranil Should go !
So should Indi Samarajiva, without plaguing us with his canadian bootlicker ideologies.
Mate, i feel sorry for you. Apparently you couldn’t acheive even 1000 hits on your blogs (as per the stats that is) despite all your desperate attempts. Money wasted by Fonseka clan. Did they ask you for a refund? Waaiiit, does your contract have a no refund clause? Stop this bullshit blogging, life is beautiful, enjoy it with the money you got from your NGO masters.
(1) I agree with you that Ranil should go
(2) Agree that the country needs a credible opposition and a credible opposition can bring a lot of benefits to the people. I’m not talking about opposing just for the sake of opposing, but helping guide policy decision.
(2) You failed as a propagandist for the UNP (last election) and Fonseka (this election)… are you going to step down?
(3) The UNP is in a total mess at the moment, I’m afraid it has been downhill ever since the ceasefire agreement, and I don’t think this is going to change soon. The UNP has too many buffoons like Mangala Samaraweera. Joining up with the JVP was just a WTF moment and pretty damn sad. Add the TNA and SLMC to that and it’s just a group of disparate tosspots trying to make a cup of tea.
(4) Sarath’s ego was too big for his own good. Did he really think he could claim all the credit for the war victory and get away with it? The Airforce and the Navy must be laughing at him right now, and so are his erstwhile colleagues in the army itself. From Hero to Zero.
look Indi,
i like you..
i like you for what your do in terms of facilitating and creating space in the blogspeare for a Sri Lankan voice but when you tell me (or in open fora..) about what Ranil should do next.. i think its time you go…
i assume you had been in Sri Lanka for least last few years and know the politics of this country for last couple of decades ..well, not the interpretations that you read on Wiki.,but what you read on national newspapers,thats mostly Sinhala and Tamil papers …
and if so, you would by now know (like most of ordinary Sri Lankans..not the western based,Obama and Hope types..) that after this election Ranil comes out as one of the winners and the only reason astute politicians like Ranil and Rauf Hakeem accepted defeat was not because they very lazy but because they understand the reality of politics well and because they were in touch with their party rank and file from all corners of Sri Lankan , because they know well, they can’t offered to have a Elections petition without substantial evidence of malpractice as being alleged by some ….
thats one of the reasons why they had been on politics for some many decades and survived that much time…
just please spare us with your infinite wisdom and stick to what you know …while at it.. try and get yourself as a registered voter too…
good luck!
Here we go again!
Indi accepting something which a majority of Sri Lankan said four years ago!!! We knew that Ranil must go for last four years, and we keep on saying this!
As usual, you are too late to realize this truth. Ranil should have been “gone” a long time ago. Now, people are starting to think that Ranil is at least better than SF and Somawansa. So, now most people wants Ranil to stay and save his party from the evils of SF + JVP alliance (when you say he must go).
If somebody has to go after this election it is SF the mentally sick old man. He must go and see a psychiatrist. Somawansa must go too! He must go back to France, and stop creating anymore tradegy in this isle. From very reliable sources I’m learning that JVP is planning mass scale protest around the country to protest against election results. We know when JVP protests; it is naturally violent!
I remember when Indi was campaigning so hard for Ranil Wickremasinghe back in those days… and then comes today’s post.
I’ve been saying he should go for years now
“I dunno, perhaps he wanted him to lose.”
Scratch that perhaps.
Actually Ranil is bloody clever and he happily let SF contest an election that he should have contested and would have lost. Lost by a even greater margin than this.
Why is noone saying MR should go home by 2016, not 2018 ? As per G.L Peries he will wait couple more years to take oath. People elected him for six, not eight, right ?
http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1255&Itemid=425
There’s nothing funnier than watching the losers fighting each other!
Indi, is it true that SF bitchslapped Mangala yesterday?
People elected him for six, not four FTR.
Asshole’s are asshole’s! Why they b(l)og to prove it only they know!
Ranil should have gone..with all the assassination theories around this is one that would have been cheered had it been carried out.
We said this 2005 November. He will lose again.
Ranil should go yes. Thats why the UNP has lost so much of its once loyal member base, including me. Ranil is crafty, selfish and corrupt – what else is new? He has been hogging the leadership role for too long now however he cunningly let Fonseka take the fall which is what we knew would happen.
If we don’t allow new blood within the political parties soon we are not going to have a democratic process left. But the issue is, politics is not a game even the morally low people want to get into thanks to its exhaustive corruption and club hopping. Its time someone like Sajith Premadasa gets a chance, and only we can make that happen by spreading support. Its not about the sides, it is about the calibre of our leaders.
By the way Indi, with all this talk of ballot/vote irregularities have you not considered that it might be Fonseka’s side or the UNP that were cheating? Why assume it was MR’s side?
Before I thought Ranil should go too. But he has a great skill few others do, ability to live to see another day while reaming in the same party. We should not underestimate that skill in Sri Lankan politics. Others with actual political capital, we see move from house to house providing their services like carpenters or plumbers once they were give an offer they could not refuse. And we have read the news the way others died, in their houses, in their cars or in public gatherings. And the remaining rest of those entertainers don’t have considerable political capital.
Ranil is not an alpha male, he never will be. But people like to like an alpha male. So they may say things like “Ranil is crafty, selfish and corrupt”. Craftiness is a virtue in Politics, there were one selfless leader, and he was crucified. Ranil have many weaknesses but I don’t think “Corrupt” is one. If you are thinking of replacing Ranil with an alpha male indeed they did in this election. We can wait and see what will happen to his political life and his life.
Sajith just like Ranil have The Skill. That is why he LIVES in his quite corner far far away. Even if he wants to, do you want to bring him in to the mess? This is not Sajith time to shine. Mahinda will roll him and eat him like string-hoppers, for breakfast and will look for more. Let’s Not Kid Ourselves. UNP is traitors and Patriots do not like traitors. You need to let the patriotism simmer in its own juice until it is overcooked and tasteless. Then perhaps Sajith or anyone else can take over. Ranil should stay for now. Specially now.
This is exactly what he wanted!
Yes, Ranil should stay. Because it will mean the UNP will never come to power.
Don’t just try to hold one man responsible. Ranil is just a representative of some selfish clan of Sri Lankans who don’t understand the common. Not only him, his followers should also leave.
Really? like Jews?
[...] a little sitting back and pondering, and finding someone to hang. It seems that some have seen Ranil hanging around in the election office. AHA! There’s a call for his [...]
I think, Ranil should stay!
UNP followers has now realized, even with a different leader their party will lose big time, because the problem is not with their party or the leader; but rather the opponent (Mahinda) is “too sexy” for the game!