A Better UNP sans Ranil? A Reply to HLD Mahindapala

Dilrook Kannangara

It was an interesting article that contained many reasons why Ranil should quit. However, some striking facts were omitted from the analysis. These point out to why the strings that puppeteer Ranil should be arrested rather than blame the puppet.

Right & Left
Interestingly there is no right and left in modern Sri Lankan politics. As our long name goes, this nation has both faces of capitalism (the economic concept behind democracy) and socialism. If the UNP is to identify itself again as a right wing party, it will reduce its vote base for sure. Its main attraction is economic liberalisation and actual and perceived economic incentives to its voters. A large number of its voters have at some point made a lot of money thanks to their allegiance to the UNP. This obviously excludes the majority of upcountry Tamils whose primary concerns are still perceived to be best addressed by the UNP.
This is the other side of the UNP’s economic strategy. While letting a few (unduly) profit from their allegiance, its strongest vote base – the upcountry Tamils - is left to bask in poverty; as long as they remain uneducated, etc. it is easier to retain their vote. Also the Sirima-Shastri pact had a devastating impact on their family circles and this strongly tilted them in favour of the UNP.
There is no way that nationalistic issues could be dragged into the party as it can split it into four! This was apparent in the last presidential election where proponents of Tamil Ealam, Malayanadu and Nazarustan were all backing the UNP not knowing that some of these crazy territories overlap each other! After all take a look at its name, united national party; are there so many nationals in Sri Lanka to be united? No; Sri Lankan is the one and only nationality we have! Therefore, a UNP sans Ranil will continue operating in an electorate devoid of right/left divisions to appease the demands of the separatists.

Vasu, Bahu & Rahu
Yes, all these jokers are inspired by communism (which is long dead), NGO baila, dollars falling into their tills and strange and unexplained treason that has inflicted them so much. The first two couldn’t make it to the Parliament the last time but the other remains the Opposition Leader (a strong believer in astral beings apart from treason and has been affected by the evil planet for at least 58 years).
However, there is a vote base that finds them appealing. In short, Ranil has repeatedly obtained the highest number of preference votes in three General Elections. Had the others contested from the same party they would have surely ended up somewhere. It is very unlikely that the UNP under any leadership would want to forgo this vote base.

Premadasa’s Influence
Premadasa has very strongly influenced the modern UNP. His approach towards the LTTE was nothing but submissive and some voters think that this is the way to free Colombo from bomb attacks. It will also ensure that UNP leaders will remain darlings of a powerful section of the business community that patronises the LTTE. Then there is the show-off that Premadasa was so good at; many UNPers believe that such fanfare is a good tool to fool the masses and unfortunately, it works. There cannot be any right thinking UNP leader who will forego this easy money and easy votes.

LTTE affiliations
Terrorist (LTTE) affiliations were strongly considered when Ranil was nominated for the post of PM and it continues to remain a vital qualification for any future UNP leader. Accordingly, SB Dissanayake, Jeyalath Jeyawardena, Rajitha Senaratna and Milinda Moragoda tried (and some of them are still seriously trying) to obtain the approval of Parabakaran. The level of degeneration they have lowered themselves is incredible. There is a logical reason to do so. UNP has never had the majority support after 1977 and in order to ascribe to a power in place of peoples’ power, it looked upto the LTTE. In turn the LTTE supported it by eliminating nationalists and people friendly politicians; there is nothing the law enforcement could do about it. LTTE has filled the power vacuum that plagues the UNP. It is unlikely that the next leader (most likely another Parabakaran patroniser) will give up these ‘conveniences’.

Minority Votes
It is a fact that the UNP stands to gain more minority votes at a presidential election than any other party. If compared to Jayawardena, Premadasa and Dissanaike, Ranil has vastly improved on this. As explained above it is economic and social deprivation plus past events that strongly binds the upcountry Tamils to the UNP. The others (Tamils, Muslims and Christians) are severely influenced by the Tamil media and the Church.
I dare say that almost all Tamil private medii are naïve mouthpieces of the LTTE. There were times when Sri Lankan nationalism tried to raise its head among the Tamils; but it was soon cut down by the enormously powerful Tamil media. Today there is no room to cultivate Sri Lankan nationalism among the Tamils solely due to unpatriotic and racist Tamil media.
The Church always had a few LTTE worshippers but not strong Sri Lankan nationalists. This slanted the whole body of the Christian clergy towards sympathising with the LTTE. Although there are a very few patriots among the Christian clergy, they either have no voice or are not given prominence by the media. This works really well with the post-Premadasa-UNP. It is foolhardy for the next UNP leader to change the status quo.

The International Community and the Tamil Diaspora
All political parties take into account the happenings of the international arena except the ones that are in political wilderness. However, the UNP plays it differently.
The large Tamil Diaspora scattered in the West exert some influence over policies of their new home countries. It is a sad reality that most of them are brainwashed by the tigers. Some of them are extreme cases of Tamil nationalistic megalomania and are working overtime for Tamil Elam.
The UNP has selected the easier option; to go with it. It bows down to whatever that blows from the international community, its version of Sri Lanka’s problems amply influenced by LTTE agents. Fuelling the separatist cause by the Tamil Diaspora will only increase in the years to come and as a result, the pressure from the IC will also increase. It takes courage and initiative for any political leader to stand unwavering on the separatism issue. I doubt that future UNP leaders (and possibly few SLFP leaders) will have the strength to do so.
It is interesting to see how the Jihad movement around the world interplays with this phenomenon here and abroad and how the West can brand Al-Qaeda as a terror group while calling LTTE as rebels.

“The Tyranny of the Majority”
Well said Ranil; you exposed your extreme anti-democratic, anti-Sinhala and anti-Buddhist feelings. Thanks to the above mentioned facts, the UNP has identified the majority as it enemy. How far it would go to kill the members of the majority community in Batalanda style is not known and will be decided by the morals of its leaders. But one thing is clear. Under whomsoever’s leadership, it will never properly address the majority’s concerns. Sadly patriotism and nationalism has become the majority’s concerns. Therefore, these are the first casualties of a UNP government. Ranil’s retirement from politics will not change this.

The currents that rock Ranil are beyond anybody’s control. If another falls into Ranil’s place, he will soon go with the current than fight it.

What we need is the force of law to counter all these unhealthy influences. Patriotism should be the guiding force of our political parties, politicians, media and all other important endeavours. Sri Lanka centred decision-making has to happen. Laws should be in place to ENSURE (deliberate) that all our politicians abide by patriotism; all media institutions and associated media, trade unions, political parties, independent bodies, NGOs, incorporated and unincorporated groups uphold and promote patriotism.

Civic disability should follow if they fail to do so. It is not that hard to implement this since there a only a few number of traitors.

The other factor is economic development; progressive governments should endeavour more on economic development. Simply they should be perceived by the people as the best capable group to manage the economy. An essential need is the improvement of entrepreneurial skills of the Sinhala majority for the fact that open economy to yield its full potential, the majority should profit from it.

In many countries it is customary to take an oath of patriotism by parliamentarians, etc. There are also strong mechanisms to monitor, correct and punish those who breach it. Japan, South Korea or Malaysia (all developed Asian countries), particularly Japan should be our role model than India, Yugoslavia, Ireland, Switzerland, etc. (During 2002-03 the UNP and LTTE peace talks participants have studied the Constitutions of these countries!!)
Yet again it is not what Akashi says, but what he does about Japan is what matters as his patriotism is towards Japan and not Sri Lanka.

It is time Constitutional amendments are made to accommodate Sri Lankan national interests to supersede all other. What matters after all are national interests above naturally conflicting interests of its people and individuals for the simple reason that billions if not trillions will call this island their home and they need to have a proper place to live in.

But we badly need a National Party; the party people longed to have especially in the early years of independence. Coming back to Ranil, either way he ends up in the political junk bin; a legacy that ends with him just like the offspring of a horse and a donkey cannot have its own legacy.