RANIL – A POLITICALLY BANKRUPT DICTATOR, CLAIMS S.B.DISSANAYAKE

A.A.M.NIZAM MATARA.

UNP’s National Organisor Mr. S.B.Dissanayake has severely condemned the party hierarchy and stated that the UNP is governed by a dictatorial constitution and a group persons without a political or public foundation. In an interview published in Sri Lanka’s leading and popular national daily “The Island” Sunday Edition he criticizes the present leadership of the UNP for the party’s political setbacks and its failure to act as a responsible opposition party. Can we expect Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe who detests anyone criticizing him and his leadership to take action against Mr. Dissanayake for his outspoken interview about UNP’s Balu Neethi and Balu Dictatorship?
Has he got the nerve to chastise Mr. Dissanayake with the same stick he tried to discipline Mr. Mahinda Wijesekara for the same reason a few months ago?

It is a known fact that the UNP is a party of the urbanite elites committed to exercise control over the political base built by its founders, and dedicated to serve the affluent society and the business community. Confirming this fact Mr. Dissanayake says that the influential block that lacks political or public foundation are blocking changes to the party structure fearing that such changes would affect their social stand, although majority of UNP members aspire for restructuring the party.

Mr. Dissanayake who was highly critical of Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, over the Batalanda fiasco and UNP’s “Beeshana Yugaya”, prior to his million dollar migration to UNP, castigates the present UNP leadership saying that “politically bankrupt individuals have permeated to the higher ranks of the party”. Without naming Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe for obvious reasons, he explains that top posts of the party are held by politically bankrupt individuals who do not have wide political clout or public support.

Answering to a direct question posed about the leadership, he points out that someone holding a relatively high position in the party is blocking party reforms and says that the whole country knows there is a group inside the UNP that wants change and a group that doesn’t want such changes. It becomes evident from the interview that he had directed his allegations and accusations at both Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe and Mr. Karu Jayasuriya and their colleagues and followers. He elucidates that both the leader and the deputy leader must propel the party towards substantial change with more enthusiasm than they are currently showing.

It is a well known fact that Mr.Ranil Wickremasinge, upon becoming the leader of the party changed the UNP constitution to suit his needs and got crowned himself as the sole authority and the undisputed leader of the party. Mr. Dissanayake confirms that the present UNP constitution is a dictatorial constitution that does not allow the majority view point to emerge or prevail and it must be changed in the first place. In his own popular terminology it means the UNP constitution is a set of “Balu Neethi” that hampers democratic changes.

The UNP leadership and particularly its frog-mouthed Tissa Attanayake spare no time to allege that the President and the government are undermining the UNP by alluring its members with ministerial portfolios and other perks. Discounting this wild allegation Mr. Dissanayake says that except for three members who crossed over to circumvent legal problems others have left due to sheer despondency, shattered dreams and due to lack of a future in the UNP. He says that lot of members, including him are dejected about the party.

He also finds fault with the Colombo Municipal Council Nomination List episode and blames the party for not taking suitable action against deleting the name of Mr. Sangadasa whom he commends as a person who had done immense service to the party as a grass-root politician. He blames that the party leader (Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe) has given undue constitutional powers to Mr. Milinda Moragoda and Mr. Mahroof.

In the village level, he explains, that party supporters who protected the party all these years have lost confidence and dejected and although they would not switch over to other parties, their sluggishness is affecting the development of the party structure in the villages. Even on this matter he emphasizes the need to shake up the party structure from the top to bottom.

Commenting on President’s invitation to the UNP Mr. Dissanayake snubs it as not a genuine move. While praising the President as a one having the better public relations skills than anybody else in politics today, he says that the President is fooling everyone, including India, IMF and the World Bank to acquire as much money as is necessary to grant concessions to public sector employees and then call for an election. However, he praises the President for taking strong action against the LTTE, for getting the Mavil Aru anicut opened, and capturing Sampur. He elaborates that if Sampur area remained in the hands of the LTTE it would have been a great threat to the Trincomalee harbour. Although he does not say anything about the unwarranted infamous CFA he admits that the LTTE strengthened the Sampur base after the signing of the ceasefire agreement.

The subjects discussed in the interview and the explanations being made by Mr. Dissanayake shows that although there is a powerful section of the UNP urging for restructuring the party and accord due places to the meritorious members the elitist leadership sternly resists these overtures and is making every effort to prevent the party falling into the hands of this group of outcasts.

At the end of the last General Elections the UNP appointed a committee headed by former UNP Chairman Mr. N. G. P. Panditharatne to look into the causes of defeat and recommend measures necessary to improve the status of the UNP. This committee too recommended that the party needs restructuring but these recommendations have gone only to the dustbin of Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe.

Mr. Dissanayake and other migrants to capitalism from their communist/socialist origins and aspiring to capture the reins of the UNP by hook or by crook should remember that the present UNP is not and will never be the national political party formed by its founders in the calibre of D.S.Senanayake /S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike and that party embraced its political demise with the death of Mr. Dudley Senanayake. The present UNP is a brain child of the tyrant J.R.Jayawardene and it would remain as an oppressive power block of the affluent urbanite elite class despite any and all ephemeral setbacks.