In Defence Of Ranil

This is in response to Ravi Perera’s long winded and vitriolic diatribe against the Leader of the UNP. One wonders if the Ides of March have struck the writer even before March began! Firstly, let me remind him that the UNP did not contest the last presidential election; therefore the vote was not a rejection or a means to correct the UNP. In fact many UNPers did not vote at all as our leader didn’t contest. It was a conglomeration of the entire opposition that got together to ask for a change.
It was decided not by the UNP Leader alone but by all those parties that the best candidate to field against the most corrupt regime that Sri Lanka has ever had, headed by three cunning brothers, only one of whom has been voted in by the people; was one who also contributed to the war victory. Obviously the issues at large that concern all law abiding citizens of this country — the killing and harassment of journalists, violence, rampant corruption, nepotism, lawlessness, violence, thuggery, intimidation, family bandyism with hundreds of Rajapaksa relatives with no education or experience holding positions of authority, including a former tea taster with no qualifications whatsoever posted as ambassador to the US do not seem to matter!

Everyone concerned knows how the election was won; apparently Ravi Perera is on cloud nine, thinking it was a free and fair election won democratically. Hordes of people from all over the country keep saying they voted for the opposition and cannot believe that the result announced was otherwise. People saw for themselves the terror on the face of the Elections Commissioner as he announced the result. They are also aware how one of the brothers took over the Election Commissioner’s office, and how Rupavahini was telecast from Temple Trees.
If Ravi Perera is unaware of these facts he must be a bigger fool that I thought he was. He is probably echoing his master’s voice in joining the merry band of Ranil Bashers.  He says the corrupt benefited under JR. Is he totally blind at the moment? Has our country ever been so corrupt as it is now under the infamous Rajapaksa brothers? Any tender has to go through them. Commissions have to be paid. No-one can ever point a finger at Ranil Wickremesinghe on his integrity, his vision, his intellect and his gentlemanly qualities. He wanted to practise democracy as much as he preached it.
Can Ravi Perera say that our judiciary today is independent? So many appointments made by the President are violations of the Constitution. People who commit murder and violence are rewarded with trips abroad at the taxpayers’ expense.

Our country is regarded as nothing less than a pariah state in the eyes of the rest of the world. Who are the friends of this regime? Myanmar, lran, China and Russia. India as usual is playing a double game. We all know that they tread other paths than that of democracy. It was not Ranil Wickremesinghe who messed up the list at the Colombo Municipal elections. It was none other than Milinda Moragoda who did that and now he is very much a part of the government. The conspiracy against Ranil probably started then or at the previous presidential election when both Milinda and Navin Dissanayake made speeches which angered the Tamils.
The LTTE had stated time and time again that RW is a cunning fox who would have succeeded in getting the West to act against them. This is why they accepted money from the Rajapaksas through Tiran Alles and Emil Kanthan to stop people from voting. He lost the election by less than 200,000 votes. It is clear that his would have been a resounding victory if not for this blocking of votes and the lakhs of UNP supporters cut off the voter lists in Colombo.

Ravi Perera mentions that RW was brought into the cabinet over the heads of other seniors. This is not true. Premadasa, Lalith and Gamini were all made cabinet ministers as soon as the 1977 government was formed. RW was made a junior minister and came into the cabinet much later. Far from the UNP vote base declining, RW increased the vote base from the dire straits it was in at the time Srima Dissanayake contested the presidency.

We are aware that Ravi Perera is a director of Lake House and is a supporter of the government in power. He has used your paper to state his views as no one reads or takes the Lake House papers seriously.

Ravi Perera has no business to tell the UNP what to do. He should instead advise his masters who could do with advice on how to run a law abiding country devoid of violence, injustice and a law which is infinitely worse than that of the jungle.

Lastly, if RW is such an ineffective leader, can you tell me why ITN and Rupavahini attack him so badly on a daily basis?

Naveen Jayasinghe