After weeks of hemming and hawing, Sajith Premadasa will now become the Deputy Leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP).
UNP Convention-Sep 2014-pic via: facebook.com/UNPofficialpage
Their leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told a largely attended 63rd anniversary rally of the party in Passara that he would give prominence to Sajith Premadasa when appointing a Deputy Leader. He said that he had yesterday united the party with so many prominent leaders present on the stage. Among them were General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, Premadasa and Karu Jayasuriya, a one time Deputy Leader.
Premadasa who spoke last after making a request to do so declared this was a repetition of history. The late J.R. Jayewardene had invited his father to unite to replace the then Government. Similarly, he will heed the call of national leader Wickremesinghe to unite the pary to democratically topple this Government.
As Premadasa rose to speak, Ravi Karunayake, a strong opponent of moves to elevate Premadasa to the number two slot in the UNP walked away from the meeting.
Earlier on Friday, Wickremesinghe resisted protests against the move from party stalwarts who asked him not to go ahead with Premadasa’s appointment. He told them he had already made a decision. Whatever the consequences, he said he was willing to face them. Wickremesinghe had originally decided not to make references at yesterday’s rally but made a last minute decision on Friday night. Among the reasons for the change of heart, he told confidants, was a request by the party’s Uva Chief Ministerial candidate Harin Fernando facing an uphill task to secure a game changing victory for the main Opposition party.
Premadasa will be formally ‘elected’ at the next meeting of the Working Committee, the party’s main policy making body. It will be summoned soon after the Uva Provincial Council election on September 20 is concluded. No firm date has yet been fixed.
Paving the way for the exercise was a meeting UNP national leader Wickremesinghe held with Premadasa a week ago. The duo had reached understanding on several matters. Consequently, Premadasa has agreed to take part in the UNP polls campaign in Uva and has given dates to party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake when he will appear, some together with Wickremesinghe.
Though Premadasa had placed a number of demands through interlocutors, before his one-on-one with Wickremesinghe, the Sunday Times learnt that no agreement has been reached on them. These demands included the abolition of the Leadership Council (chaired by former Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya) and the inclusion of ten of Premadasa’s nominees as members of the Working Committee.
However, a significant step would still be the appointment of a twenty-member Committee that will work parallel to the Leadership Council. That body will formulate plans for the party’s campaign during the upcoming presidential election where Wickremesinghe expects to be the party’s candidate. The Committee will, among other matters, formulate the party’s manifesto, map out strategy and media operations. Some members of the Leadership Council and parliamentarians including Premadasa nominees will be among those in this Committee.
A high ranking UNP source said, “The party will put up a new team together for the establishment of an alternative Government. We are coming out with new concepts.” Those not in favour of the appointment of Premadasa as Deputy Leader, the source said, would be able under the party constitution to make a signed request for fresh elections. For this purpose a third of the membership of the Working Committee would have to place their signatures. Within ten days, the Working Committee and the Parliamentary Group would then decide on a fresh election, the source added.
In a Working Committee where staunch supporters of Wickremesinghe are in the majority, it is highly unlikely Premadasa’s nomination as Deputy Leader would be vetoed, now that Wickremesinghe has given his nod of approval. This is not to say there is overwhelming endorsement within the UNP hierarchy to the move. There are formidable sections that are strongly opposed to it.
That includes those who solidly backed Wickremesinghe in his political tussles with Premadasa in the recent past. Yet, even they will not seek solace under UNP’s constitutional provisions to challenge Premadasa’s proposed election. That is on the grounds that such a move would be a direct confrontation with national leader Wickremesinghe. Yet, the danger of another split in the party may become inevitable and could lead to a cold war. Some resignations from party seniors are also not ruled out.
The moment of truth: Up go the hands of UNP stalwarts, including leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa, while jubilant members at the party’s convention in Passara yesterday click their camera phones to capture a rare portrait of party unity. Pic by Romesh Danushka
Nevertheless, some have already turned strong public critics. At last Wednesday’s meeting of the Leadership Council chaired by Karu Jayasuriya, Colombo District parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake lashed out not only at Premadasa but also at those who he said were behind the move to foist Premadasa to the number two position. “He wants positions. He is at the Wilpattu National Park today and not in Uva,” Karunanayake said pointing out that the victors of this “conspiracy” was a publisher who supported the Government and brokered their interests.
He queried on what basis General Secretary Tissa Attanayake made statements to the media that Premadasa would soon be a Deputy Leader. Karunanayake has in many interviews in the English and Sinhala media launched bitter attacks on Premadasa. He also claimed former UNP Chairman Malik Samarawickrema, Tissa Attanayake and former MP Sagala Ratnayake were among those who wanted Premadasa as Deputy Leader. Attanayake countered the accusations at the meeting saying he spoke in his capacity as General Secretary and did not require approval for what he said.
He later told the Sunday Times, “In the weeks and months to come, our party has to face some serious threats and challenges. Unity in the party is very essential. Sajith Premadasa has a very positive role to play. We have discussed issues with him. The majority view in the party is that he should become Deputy Leader. I have not taken any contract from anyone. I am working towards party unity. That is the need of the hour.”
Another prominent member opposed to the move, who did not wish to be identified, said a media professor advising UNP leaders had forwarded reports, after he was tasked, pointing out that at all Uva polls meetings, UNP supporters had asked “where is Sajith, where is Sajith.” He alleged that the advisor had made up the reports since he backed the move. The member also named a senior executive of a business conglomerate and an electronic media personality turned local councillor as among the interlocutors. “Others ask for rewards after they perform. Here they are asking for rewards to perform,” he added. The argument was countered by a Premadasa loyalist who said Wickremesinghe could not go on forever ignoring the Hambantota MP in view of the grassroots level support he enjoyed among party cadres.
The impending rapprochement between Wickremesinghe and Premadasa also has other ramifications. Though he has not officially declared his candidature for the presidential election, Wickremesinghe has made clear it would have to be a UNPer who would contest irrespective of whether other parties put forward candidates. With Premadasa, who is also opposed to the concept of a ‘common opposition’ candidate now in the leadership fold, the prospects of a single contestant winning the support of the UNP, the largest in the Opposition, appear diminished.
Civil society groups and some professional bodies have opined that the only way to defeat the UPFA’s presidential candidate, Mahinda Rajapaksa, was to have one acceptable opponent contesting him with the support of all opposition parties. Some UNP stalwarts who spoke informally to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leadership favoured a common candidate but the JVP was unwilling to back Wickremesinghe in that slot.
Among those, UNPers say, is worst hit by Premadasa’s advent as Deputy Leader is Mangala Samaraweera. In the Matara District which he represents, Samaraweera counts as archrival his colleague Buddhika Pathirana, a staunch Premadasa loyalist. Moreover, his relationship with Sagala Ratnayake, a former MP in the District, has not been very cordial either. Samaraweera’s supporters, who came to be known as the “kurundu polu brigade” or cinnamon pole brigade for attacking an anti-Wickremesinghe march were arrested, remanded and are now facing charges in courts. The march from Devinuwara to Colombo, calling for the resignation of Wickremesinghe as the leader of the UNP, was allegedly attacked by Samaraweera supporters in Matara. Ratnayake and Pathirana were notable absentees when the reported attacks took place.
Courtesy:Sunday Times