Does The UNP Consist of Patriots or Traitors?
Can We Consider Them Sons and Daughters of Our Nation?

By Darmitha-Kotte

The very name of the UNP which stands for "United National Party," was given that name because the late Mr.D.S.Senanayake as the first Prime Minister in "independent Ceylon" had a vision for his party and this country. Why he chose to call his political party UNP, probably only he and the Senanayake family will know. During the short period when he was at the helm, we know that his actions definitely speak for the unity of this country. To others, it has merely been a vehicle through which they have climbed up the ladder, to grab leadership positions. It is immaterial whether members belong to the bourgeoisie or the ordinary citizen, or whether they serve " the capitalist class" of this country. What matters is whether they consider themselves sons and daughters of this soil and whether they consider Sri Lanka as their Motherland? Until the untimely death of the late Mr. Dudley Senanayake, we did see the party being conducted with decency and discipline. Mr. Dudley Senanayake was a law abiding citizen of this country who respected the majority viewpoint within the party. His feelings for the ordinary man on the street, was sincere and genuine and he trusted everyone to the extent that even his party members cheated on him towards his last days and he died as a heart-broken man. Decency within the UNP unfortunately died, together with Mr. Dudley Senanayake's demise.

The purpose of this article is not to argue on why Sri Lanka is now facing a terrorist threat from the LTTE and who created it because that has a long history. However, what we do need to look into right now, is how the situation got aggravated, how the wishes of The Nation of Sri Lanka was bypassed and how the UNP acted during the last 30 years in the face of a national crisis. When we say " The Nation of Sri Lanka" we think of the entire country and not just a " minority " of a minority, which is the Tamil Community of this country. How has the UNP acted against the wishes of the majority Tamil Community to appease the minority terrorists and by doing so, who was the party leadership serving?

It is no secret that the UNP has deviated from national politics and moved closer and closer to western powers, carried out their dictates and by doing so catered to the whims and fancies of western governments, INGOs, Christian Churches who are backing the LTTE terrorists against the majority of this country, Donor Organisations like the World Bank, ADB or USAID have been using "blackmail tactics" to twist the arm of the UNP leadership into carrying out the wishes of western powers. There is absolutely no doubt, that a Western Government or Donor Organisation will have their hidden agendas to keep developing countries in Asia and Africa forever poor and beholden to them. What is difficult to accept is the fact that the UNP, has during the past near 30 years have forgotten their own identity and the fact that they are born of this country, nurtured and educated by this country, and must necessarily serve this country with the best interests of Sri Lanka in mind! They have completely forgotten that by birth or inheritance they do not belong to a western country or culture but to Sri Lanka and that their bounden duty and responsibility towards their Motherland, is to safeguard the identity, sovereignty, and self-respect our nation! The UNP election slogan of 2000 was "Regaining Sri Lanka" and surely, he was making every effort for foreigners like in the colonial days, to regain control of this country.

When the UNP under the leadership of Ranil Wickramasinghe signed an illegal document called the CFA under the tutelage and dictates of LTTE terrorists and Norway disregarding the fact that Sri Lanka was governed by an Executive President whose signature or approval was required to make such a document legal - Ranil Wickramasinghe proved to the entire nation that he was a national traitor! His only concern was that it was important for him to come into power and remain in power, the country could go to hell. To support him, there is a faction of the equally servile UNP membership, who agree to everything he says because like him, they too want to reap the maximum benefits possible if the UNP remains in power. Vulgarity and indecency have reached new heights within the party during his leadership. To all of them, national interests and our sovereignty have little value. Under the leadership of Ranil Wickramasinghe the party has lost a record 14 elections and still he will not quit- because his white masters have advised him not to do so.

Today, Sri Lanka is facing a historic turn around of events. Our Armed Forces have proved that the LTTE is not invincible. They have been able to expose all the atrocities the LTTE terrorists have been committing against their own Tamil community whom they profess to represent as well as our entire nation and the western world has had to eat " humble pie" in the face of glaring truths. INGOs and NGOs who earn their living by creating misery for our country are all in a quandary because our incumbent government has been able to disprove all the heresay of the pro-LTTE western governments and media. In the wake of recent developments in Sri Lanka, all other political parties are rallying round the Sri Lanka Government except the UNP. Reason- they do not want to recognize the fact that the incumbent government during a mere matter of 9 months, has done what they together with Chandrika Kumaratunga avoided doing for 30 years. That is- to defend the nation and bring dignity to our country. Today, Norway and the SLMM is trying in desperation to accuse the government of irregularities and even these, have been proven to be false accusations which they have made to appease the terrorists! Has the UNP even on one occasion stood on the side of the nation and the government to criticize the atrocities of the LTTE terrorists through these past few months of terrorist activities-NO, they have opted to be silent !

Time and time again, the incumbent government of Sri Lanka has invited all patriotic forces to join hands to solve the terrorist problem once and for all. Most have joined except the Muslim parties which are on the fence watching to see whether they can win their own agenda of separate Muslim autonomy, and the UNP! When the nation is facing a crisis, when the nation is at a turning point in our history whereby a united effort of all parties opposed to terrorism has the opportunity to prove that terrorism does not pay dividends, we find it revolting to see the UNP "pulling the leg." Within the UNP there seems to be a strong power struggle which has blinded the UNPers to the blaring facts before their very eyes. Does the nation come first or their personal agendas, seem to be the question that is bothering them right now!

If the UNP and its members were patriotic, there should be no need for the incumbent government to invite them over and over again to join hands to make the decisive move. If they were patriotic, they would tell the foreign powers dictating to them " this is our country & this is the moment when we all need to be united" (therefore we need to decide for ourselves). At this point, what is important, is not who will eventually get the glory of this action but whether this exercise will bring back to our nation the much needed dignity and self-respect. We need to witness true patriotism from the UNP right now or else, it will be too late for them to shed crocodile tears later! Citizens of Sri Lanka are closely watching to see how the UNP is behaving in the face of a national crisis.

Ranil Wickramasinghe needs to make up his mind fast, whether or not he wants to stand on the side of patriots or traitors? There are many traitors in the UNP who are now tired of being on the side of a losing team and who think it is time to "hop onto the other side"- we now see statements made by such vulgar politicians to say that Ranil Wickramasinghe is ruling the UNP as an autocrat!! The autocrat was good, when this politician wanted to cross over to the UNP to hit out at Chandrika Kumaratunga. Ranil made him national organizer of the UNP and there will be a day that Ranil Wickramasinghe himself has to suffer at the hands of such personalities. There is yet another UNPer who has tried for a couple of months to get onto the good books of President Rajapakse and find a way of crossing over but President Rajapakse for very good reasons, has kept a distance from those who have been " crossing back and forth". It would do well for President Rajapakse to take into serious consideration of those who are willing to cross-over. These, are definitely not be the patriotic forces that the country needs right now! Eventually, they will become liabilities to the SLFP and the government.

The UNP has truly patriotic people like Mr. Karu Jayasuriya who are patriotic both to the nation and the party but he happens to be in the minority these days. We do see him "between the devil and the deep blue sea" trying to figure out what should come first------the nation or the party? On the other hand, we have seen some truly patriotic UNPers who crossed over to the side of the government even at the risk of losing party membership and other disciplinary action being initiated by Ranil Wickramasinghe. However, these people have shown us, that they truly have the welfare of the country in their hearts and are seen to be doing an excellent job. They are certainly not just "time-servers" like those waiting to cross over for personal perks.

One thing is for sure. Ranil Wickramasinghe with his servile attitude towards the white masters is gradually destroying the UNP. At the same time he is showing the entire nation that he and the UNP under his leadership is not to be trusted! When the UNP fragments, it will be the vulgar and indecent forces within the party that will take the upper hand and in that situation it is better for us say " good-bye" to the UNP! We have already seen what such forces are capable of doing when they conducted their much publicized "Jana Bala Meheyuma" rallies and marches 2-3 years ago. We saw "the drunkards and the foul-mouthed paid employees " of the UNP in their most vulgar and indecent guises and dread to think what the party will end up with them in command?