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RANIL

The man who chose the wrong profession

Ranil Wickremesinghe is not a natural born politician. A shy, stubborn, introvert, with a streak of arrogance in his personality, he is happiest listening to music, reading books and traveling, less happy addressing political rallies and leading street protests. An easy smile, the ability to indulge in small talk with unknown people, the talent to tell a convincing lie, these are more important for political success than are vision and ability.

Both Mahinda Rajapakse and Chandrika Kumaratunga are masters at that game and their ‘triumph’ in politics is proof of their ability. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s ‘failure’ is more a question of the wrong career choice; he has been the proverbial square peg in the proverbial round hole.

Of all the political leaders this country has to offer right now, Ranil is perhaps the one politician with vision and commitment. Even his worst detractor will admit to that. An intelligent man, Ranil did not spend over three decades in politics doing nothing. An experienced administrator, he has taken the time to study, in depth, the issues facing the country, whether they be education, the ethnic conflict, foreign policy or economics.

The tragedy for Ranil and for the UNP, and perhaps for the country, is that he is unelectable. His victory in the 2002 general election was more by nature of an accident than a deliberate choice by the polity.

Since narrowly losing the presidential election in 2005 thanks to Velupillai Pirapaharan, Ranil seems to have lost the ability to assess the political winds dispassionately. What was clear in that election was that the Sinhalese have not only lost faith in him but saw him as anti-national. The vicious campaign by his current friend Mangala Samaraweera when he was the all powerful Chandrika lacky, that Ranil had a secret deal with Pirapaharan to divide the country, stuck.

Loss of trust

Even today most Sinhalese don’t trust Ranil on the ethnic issue. He made things worse for himself by publicly laughing at the military campaign launched by President Mahinda Rajapakse. One could excuse his scepticism at the beginning of the military offensive. After all few believed that the war could be won. But even as the government launched a massive and hugely successful propaganda campaign and the military made major advances, Ranil stuck to his position and that has cost his party dearly.

Even hardcore members of the UNP no longer trust Ranil when it comes to the LTTE. Here again he misread the mood of the country, specially the Sinhalese. People across party lines supported the war but Ranil it appeared believed it was mission impossible. Failure of the military effort he thought would be the beginning of his resurgence.

Instead what has happened is that the once powerful UNP is in serious trouble and every party member holds Ranil Wickremesinghe responsible. The trouncing it received in the provincial council elections cannot be written off as the fate of the opposition in mini elections. True, the ruling party invariably wins local and provincial elections but what is stunning is the margin of victory.

The UNP needs an inspirational leader to pull the party from this hole and what has been clear for nearly two and half years is that Ranil is not that leader.

Lake House

Ranil is fond of saying that if Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s 1970 government had not nationalised Lake House he would have ended up working there. By that action, Mrs. Bandaranaike did neither Ranil nor the UNP a favour, but she certainly gave the party her husband formed a stranglehold on power that will last as long as Ranil Wickremesinghe remains the leader of the UNP.

Ranil’s finest hour came when he quit Temple Trees within 24 hours of losing the 1994 general elections. He made it clear then that he would not be a party to horse-deals. This, in the midst of Gamini Dissanayake and his loyalists trying to cobble together an alliance with the Muslim Congress and the CWC in order to hang on to power.

The irony is that the same Ranil, 12 years later, did not have the astuteness to quit after losing the 2005 presidential election.

Had he done that, his stature may have been enhanced manifold. Somewhere down the road many may have come to realise that his non-populist answers to the country’s problems were better than the populist slogans of the opponent, slogans that could in fact never be implemented. Ranil, who was never really loved by the people, may even have been missed, both by the people and by the UNP.

JR and Ranil

Sadly, Ranil did not learn enough of politics from his uncle, J.R. Jayewardene. At the time JR assumed the leadership of the UNP and of the opposition, the United Front government had a two thirds’ majority in parliament. JR’s party had only 17 MPs. But the UNP’s support among the electorate had grown substantially since the 1970 election. He reorganised at the grass-roots level and took the battle to the streets.

Demonstrations and satyagrahas were held in powerful bastions of the SLFP such as the Ratnapura and Attanagalla electorates. And he maintained the pressure, forcing the reluctant Mrs. Bandaranaike to hold the already once postponed elections. The rest, as they say, is history.

JR’s second major strategic move was to craft the “Uncles’ and Nephews’ Party” into a broader political force. Ranasinghe Premadasa, later to become president himself, was the main campaigner. He was backed by young blood, Gamini Dissanayake, Lalith Athulathmudali, and Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, to name a few.

JR’s third major achievement was his willingness and ability to project himself as a Sinhala leader, despite his elitist social background, poor Sinhala, and obvious discomfiture with the national dress.

But Ranil Wickremesinghe could do none of this. He was more a ‘political operator’ than a popular leader. He was more comfortable manipulating the system than rubbing shoulders with the party faithful. Despite the dictatorial powers the leader of the UNP enjoys in the party constitution, he did not have the confidence to create a second line of leaders or to delegate responsibility. His modus operandi was to set one up against the other, thereby safeguarding his leadership.

Ultimate insult

The ultimate insult comes when ones political opponents show a greater keenness than ones own party “loyalists” that one stays on as Leader of the Opposition. That is the place to which Ranil Wickremesinghe has come, 30 years after becoming the youngest minister in the Jayewardene government.

So where does Ranil Wickremesinghe go from here? Is it time for him to re-visit his finest hour when he showed himself to be a man of that rare quality, integrity? It is probably too late for him to take his cue from there. He is already seen as hanging on desperately to a position that he should have left many many months ago. Millions of his own party men are cursing him while a section of his former “loyalists” are trying to throw him out. A leader who has no credibility among his own followers is never going to lead a party to victory.

It is a sad end to a man who had the potential and the ability to make a serious contribution to the development of this country.

‘The UNP is indestructible’

By Kabir Hashim, (MP) Kegalle District

Every time there is an election and the United National Party gets defeated, most people think it is the end of the road for our party. It is definitely not the case. It can re-energise itself in a short time and hit back harder than the opponent would expect. Some of the historical defeats the UNP faced are far worse than what we have seen since 1994.

In 1956 the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike swept the SLFP to victory reducing the UNP to a mere eight seats and even losing the opposition leader post to Dr. N.M. Perera. Even J.R. Jayewardene lost his Kelaniya seat at this election. People thought the UNP was history. By 1958, J.R. Jayewardene built up the party moral and positioned it to contest the Colombo Municipal Council elections routing the government within the Colombo Municipal Limits.

Then J.R. Jayewardene used the Colombo Municipal Council victory as a spring board to launch a country-wide campaign successfully. Ranil Wickremesinghe has been able to do this with the Western Province elections. All odds were stacked against him and the party in general: the war euphoria, state thuggery and intimidation, assaults on journalists and media institutions, underworld elements, state propaganda, promises and coercions, to name a few. The UNP overcame all these odds to win all seats within the Colombo municipal limits. The government was making big talk before the elections by challenging the UNP to win even one seat in the province let alone all seats within the Colombo city limits. Now the government ministers are singing a different baila saying that only bulls and donkeys reside in the capital of this great nation of ours.

Used every trick  

The government used every conceivable trick in the book to achieve these results. They unduly prolonged the election campaign period to two months. This is not the usual practice and the Commissioner of Elections should not have done this. It was a ploy to burn out the opposition candidates in terms of resources.

Of course the government candidates had unlimited state patronage. Then the government maximised on the war for electioneering and the great sacrifices made by the soldiers were sold on the electoral platforms by candidates. The government used financially powerful candidates in Colombo to try to rout the UNP in the city. They still failed. 

But of course this doesn’t mean everything is fine for the UNP. We lost Gampaha and Kalutara districts badly. The bulk of the Sinhala Buddhist votes have been taken by the government with the war euphoria. My belief is that despite the war, the UNP can muster and multiply its Sinhala Buddhist vote base. It is a matter of a proper political message, a well crafted political strategy and an aggressive grassroot campaign.

In the 1970s J.R. J was contemplating a proper socialist, economic and social framework for the UNP. It was only later in the ’70s that he stumbled on the newly implemented ‘Free Market Economics’ and chose it as the path to development for Sri Lanka. We still follow the same policies today despite all the nationalist rhetoric by the current government.

J.R.J brought in the “Dharmishta” concept and it was in his time that for the first time in our history a separate Ministry for Buddhist Affairs was created whilst creating similar ministries for the minorities too. The Cultural Triangle project was started. My point is that the UNP has done more than any other party to foster Buddhism and preserve the cultural identity of the Sinhalese whilst protecting the minorities.

Did the most

Likewise J.R.J made sure that over four million school children were given free mid-day meals, school books and uniforms during that period. Then Ranasinghe Premadasa continued with the great work of Janasaviya, Gam Udawa and the 200 garment factory projects. This party has done more for the welfare of the ordinary masses than all the Socialist and Leftist parties put together. 

One must also remember that our present Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe has been working under those leaders and has not only learnt but contributed to their efforts.  Then, what should the UNP do? I think we need to first get back to aggressive grassroot campaigning and for this, first and foremost Sirikotha has to be reawakened and put to the test.

Due to the PR system and the “manape” issues, it is not as easy as before to get organisers to commit to party reorganisation itself. Therefore the party will have to devise new mechanisms and systems to achieve these ends. On the other hand I believe that we need to come up with a new vision, new theme and new policy for the party. After all still this is the only party that has a policy at all in this country.

We need to start winning the hearts and minds of the people. All the organisers should rally around the leader and go for it in the coming general elections without any bickering. This is still the largest party in the country and the strongest, and the President knows it.  That is why he is not under-rating us. That is why he is trying to split us. If we all stand together and begin the reorganising at grassroot from now without blaming one another, yes, we will be the next government without a doubt. It is a question of re-packaging and marketing the “Grand Old Party.”  

— Courtesy Montage