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UNP & Ranil’s Leadership-Need to Concede to Reality

By Darmitha-Kotte

The print media has carried many articles regarding the frustrations of the UNP membership regarding the continued leadership of Ranil Wickramasinghe who has proved beyond reasonable doubt, that he has failed miserably. He has failed to understand the pulse of the masses & UNP party members and this has led to an all time record of 14 defeats at elections under his leadership! Any honest and humble leader would have stepped down after 3-4 defeats but not Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe who thinks that the mantle given by his late uncle Mr. J.R.Jayawardane, is justification to hang on at the helm ignoring blaring shortcomings. These are not qualities of a true leader or statesman but of a dictator!

Some say his defeat is attributed to his weak voice- this is utterly ridiculous. A voice has nothing to do with one’s inability to understand that one does not have the qualities required of a political party leader! His defeat is largely because he is far removed from reality, because he fails to see and hear the voice of the people & most of all because his policies have proved to be a sell-out of our national integrity and unity. His defeat has been because he has seen it fit to run to the “white master” for all advise. He has also betrayed the people at a time when the entire nation was mourning a national disaster never witnessed in the recent history of Sri Lanka- the Tsunami of 26th December 2004 when he made special appeals to foreign powers not to send funding to the legitimate government of this country for rehabilitation work. Whether or not, the government of Sri Lanka would use funds to actually spend on Tsunami Relief is one question, but to deny Tsunami victims of relief by actually requesting would be willing donors not to send funds to the government is another issue all together. This showed how absolutely inconsiderate he was of the suffering faced by those victims; it proved that his approach was more a personal vandetta against the government and a hope that he could manipulate it for his own personal political survival!

The UNP has never ever championed the cause of the ordinary man on the streets, but it has used the ordinary man to the maximum to create social dissention, to conduct utterly vulgar & indisciplined “Janabala Meheyumas”(People Power Mobilizations as UNP interprets) by doling out money and “moonshine” to cater to drunkards. The millions of rupees he wasted during the last one before the elections could have offered secure housing for quite a few thousand Tsunami victims or provided self-help employments equipment for those who lost their sources of income due to the Tsunami! The UNP under the late J.R.Jayawardane and thereafter under Ranil Wickramasinghe has only championed the cause of a bunch of Tamil terrorists who do not even represent the majority Tamil population of this country who detest the LTTE and their atrocities against civilians.

For nearly 6 years, UNP membership with a yearning for changes to party policy and leadership, have been expressing their displeasure of how the party was led under Ranil Wickramsinghe. They have expressly requested him to step down. Each time he has managed to survive because he has the backing of a few powerful & rich members who have made maximum personal benefits under his regime. They have been school mates or class mates of his at Royal College due to which qualification, they have enjoyed a free hand in their operations. Bribery and corruption has been at its best under Ranil’s rule-beneficiaries have been his close friends both within and outside the party. State assets have been disposed of without “the blinking of an eyelid” as the saying goes, to satisfy foreign donor countries or organizations without considering the national interests.

Dear Mr. Wickramasinghe- it is high time to open your eyes to realities blaring around you. It is high time to understand that you have betrayed your party. It is high time to realize that you have betrayed the entire nation. Typical of your characteristic method of bribing members, recently you met certain members in Thailand (at what cost when there are so many venues within Sri Lanka) to try to make a secret pact for your continued political leadership.

If the UNP is to survive further collapse, the party needs leaders who are realistic and understand the pulse of the Sri Lankan people- not politicians who think that by offering gold bracelets, denim jeans to farmers, transistor radios or chewing gum-they can govern this country to prosperity! Least of all we do not require leaders who will fragment & destroy the unity of Sri Lanka to please gun-toting, blood-thirsty terrorists. Nor do we need foreigners to control our internal administration. We definitely require “True Sons of This Soil with Patriotic Feelings for Sri Lanka!”

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