Honeymoon Ends For Broad Opposition Alliance

By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema

Ranil — ‘List takes time’ and Fonseka — A different course

The opposition will be divided into two platforms at the forthcoming general election – the UNP led collation of parties that would contest under the UNF and the alliance led by General Sarath Fonseka together with the JVP under the Democratic National Alliance (DNA).

Opposition parties affiliated to the UNF like the SLMC, DPF and the SLFP (M) Wing while expressing their dismay at the inability to continue with the broad national alliance have agreed to contest under the elephant symbol.

However, even by Friday night discussions were continuing among the UNP leadership and party leaders of the UNF on the allocation of slots in the nominations list and the national list.

In fact, the UNF was facing a crisis, unable to arrive at a consensus mainly with the DPF and the SLMC.

Several members of the UNF had even threatened to quit the front and contest separately or join General Fonseka’s alliance, if the UNP was not ready to agree to their demands.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake meanwhile observed the need to protect the main opposition party when agreeing to demands forwarded by UNF affiliated parties.
The Democratic Peoples Front (DPF) led by Mano Ganesan had requested for allocations to be made in the nomination list to contest in the Colombo, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Badulla, Wanni and Batticaloa districts.

Ganesan had objected to the UNP decision to field Tamil UNP members in  districts the DPF had requested, especially in Colombo claiming it would compromise the opportunities for DPF members  to be elected.

The DPF, it is learnt, had requested three slots each on the nominations list for Colombo, Nuwara Eliya and Batticaloa.
The UNP and the DPF were at loggerheads over the allocation of nomination list slots on Friday night.

Ganesan told The Sunday Leader before commencing the crucial discussion with the UNP leaders on Friday that the outcome of the meeting would decide if the DPF would continue to contest under the UNF.

Meanwhile, the SLMC was also in discussion with the UNP leadership on the allocation of slots in the nominations list, especially in the Ampara District.

SLMC Deputy Secretary General Nizam Kariyappar said the party had requested to contest in the Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Wanni, Kandy, Colombo, Kurunegala, Puttalam and Kalutara districts.
He said that the party was planning a strategy to win the bonus seat in Ampara.
According to Kariyappar, the party was considering arriving at a consensus with the TNA when contesting in the Ampara District in order to maximise the votes the opposition could muster.

The SLMC was also in discussion even by Friday night on finalising the party’s slots in the UNF nomination lists.

Another key member of the UNF, the SLFP (M) Wing it is learnt has requested for two slots to be made available for the party to contest in the Matara and Kurunegala Districts and a slot each in the Gampaha, Anuradhapura, Moneragala, Badulla, Puttalam, Kandy and Ratnapura Districts.

When contacted by The Sunday Leader on Thursday (18) night, SLFP (M) Wing Leader Mangala Samaraweera said a final decision had not been made on the slots in the nomination lists.

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday said the UNF was in the process of finalising the nominations list.

He told The Sunday Leader that it was the allocation of parliamentary slots that was taking time. “Allocating slots is always a difficult issue in any alliance,” he said.
When asked as to when the UNF would be able to finalise all issues given the fact that the acceptance of nominations commenced from Friday, Wickremesinghe said that the party secretary would make an official announcement once everything was finalised.
However, the UNP also maintains that the UNF is still open for discussion to accept General Fonseka and even the JVP to its fold.

The JVP on the other hand is busy forming a separate alliance under the DNA with General Fonseka as the leader and JVP’s Vijitha Herath as the party secretary.
The DNA, which is to contest under the ‘trophy’ symbol, is to receive the support of SLFP (M) Wing National Organiser Tiran Alles and former cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunge.

Alles observed that his decision to support the General’s alliance was ‘based on principles he has always followed.’

He said it was not proper to contest under the elephant symbol and break the broad opposition alliance when the General was in custody.

Former JVP parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that seven political parties have already joined the DNA and discussions were in progress with several other parties who had expressed their willingness to join the movement led by General Fonseka.
He said the alliance would contest the general election from every district.

Dissanayake blamed the UNP for allowing the broad opposition alliance to break up for petty political gains. “The JVP tried to continue with the alliance, but the UNP was not ready. We hope the UNP would change its stance even at this last stage,” he said.
The general election is now likely to lead to a competition between the UNF and the DNA with the split in the broad opposition alliance. The smaller political parties it seems are now trying to increase their bargaining powers due to the ability to chose between the two opposition alliances.

Related posts:

1. Opposition Plans For General Election By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema Hot on the heels of the presidential election, the country’s political circles are busy discussing the formation of alliances and fronts...
2. Opposition In Crisis By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema The main opposition party the UNP’s decision to contest the forthcoming general election under the elephant symbol is likely to break...

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Posted by admin on Feb 21 2010. Filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry