The UNP under Ranil, as of 2011. Haven’t had the heart to update the decline.
The UNP is rapidly turning into a failed state with severe brain drain. Ranil, the leader-for-life, is threatened by anyone with any political talent or following so he sidelines or disciplines them within the party. Ranil also insists on running the party though he can’t win elections (not even running in the last Presidential) so you’re left with a party in permanent opposition. There are just enough perks to keep the few people on the working committee loyal (I’m sure Mahinda ensures enough largesse for this) but no hope of ever being in the actual government and having power. It’s a sad state or perhaps even end for Sri Lanka’s first proper political party.
I say end cause at some point everyone will leave besides Ranil and the working committee and it’ll be some rump minority party. I mean, the SLFP originally split from the UNP yonks ago, that could happen.
The problem is that other UNP leaders never got together and left en masse. If they did you’d have a party with the likes of G.L. Peiris, Milinda Moragoda, Keheliya Rambukwella, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, S.B. Dissanayake, etc. Douchebags aplenty but still vote getters. You could have had a splinter group that became the opposition, leaving Ranil clutching a green elephant.
But, of course, Ranil revels in the infighting and setting people working against each other that make coordinated reason impossible. The result is that the UNP slowly bleeds to death.
Today the only opposition is actually within the SLFP, old-school SLFPers like Maithripala Sirisena (a guess) who are not Rajapaksa loyalists per se. Mahinda actually surrounds himself with more former UNPers than anything else and the normal party hierarchy has been disrupted.
In this context I don’t blame Dayasiri for crossing over, but it is a shame that talented politicians have been fleeing the UNP in droves and have to flee. The levers of democracy are broken, both in terms of opposition pressure changing policy and oppositions eventually forming governments. The dictator who’s broken this democracy isn’t Mahinda, it’s actually Ranil.
I wouldn’t vote for someone like Dayasiri as he has proven that he is all for personal gain.
Interestingly the only party that looks to be unwavering on principle is TNA. Probably the least corrupt as well (I guess they never had a chance as well I suppose) With them bagging more national level leadership like Sumanthiran, Wigneshwaran, etc. They will likely be the main opposition very soon.
<> ..that made my day……. since when did we have tamil national leaders after people like kariragamer other than these tribal racists…of course they would not join the government, since their racist forefathers chelvas and ponnambals invented the communal politics in this country, their political survival depends on isolating their feudal tamil society from the political power by non participating in governance ..
Well everyone has their limits. I guess both Ranil and MR will sleep well tonight.
And people become politicians because of their ego (love of power, money, popularity etc etc). Not because they are altruistic.
Indi,
Your analysis in this case is one that is emotional rather than objective.
The primary reason for cross overs is personal benefits and not Ranil. The lack of democracy is also not because of Ranil but because of the judgement delivered by the former chief justice Sarath Silva which “ok’d” crossovers. This in-effect opened the flood gates and allowed the executive to dangle perks and induce crossovers. This is what has really hurt democracy by way of not having a viable opposition. I cant think of one party, barring TNA, that has not been impacted. Even a cadre based party such as the JVP split. SLMC, CWC, JHU etc all have been impacted.
Prior to that judgement, if a MP crossed over, they lost their seat. If this was still in effect 99% of these crossovers would not have happened, regardless of Ranil and his abilities, or lack thereof. We would still have a strong opposition to represent us.
Dayasiri resigned and joined another party that he has been so strongly opposed to. You can justify the crossover if he joined any other party besides the SLFP/UPFA. He simply left because he wanted power; even if that meant he had to go against his conscience and work with someone whose policies/practices he was so opposed to.
I am not defending Ranil Wickramasinghe by any means here. Ranil leading the party/opposition is a whole other issue. If Ranil is the problem, they need to get him kicked out without coming up with excuses. Every single attempt that has been made thus far to remove Ranil has had no strategy/direction. That is why he hasn’t been removed and no other reason.
Sri Lanka’s (then Ceylon) first ‘proper’ political party is not the UNP which only came into existence as the coalition DSS put together to form the 1947 govt but it is actually the LSSP – Lanka Sama Samaja Party formed in 1935. Just wanted to put that fact straight. But I agree with you completely with regards to the last sentence in your article.