After the moral victory it achieved at the Uva Provincial Council election, the United National Party convened its Working Committee to appoint new office bearers to several key positions in the party including that of the Deputy Leader. Hambanthota District MP, Sajith Premadasa, who once lost the Deputy Leader position after he unsuccessfully challenged the Leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe, was re-appointed to the same position after a hiatus of a few years. In addition to Premadasa’s appointment, Ravi Karunanayake, a staunch critique of the Hambanthota District Parliamentarian, was appointed as the new Assistant Leader of the party.

UNP National List Parliamentarian, Eran Wickramaratne was appointed as the Treasurer of the United National Party while Moneragala District MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara was appointed as the Senior Deputy Chairman of the party. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, a young Parliamentarian from Kurunegala, was appointed as the Deputy General Secretary.

In addition, Rathnapura District MP Thalatha Athukorala was appointed as the Secretary of Election Affairs while former Parliamentarian Harin Fernando’s name was proposed as the Head of the Youth Front of the party, the position which was held by Parliamentarian Ruwan Wijeyawardena. A day before the crucial Working Committee meeting, Wijeyawardena sacrificed his position paving the way for Harin to become the Youth Front Leader of the party as a reward for the sacrifices he made during the Uva election campaign. Following the Working Committee meeting however, Fernando declined this saying he did not want to take over Wijeyawardena’s post as the latter had done a significant job as the Youth Front Leader of the party.

Ranil starts WC Meeting with an advice

The developments of the Working Committee meeting started unfolding when the Opposition Leader made his speech marking the commencement of the meeting. While making the working Committee members aware of new appointments, Wickremesinghe said the key members of the party should refrain from criticising each other in public. While adding that everyone should stick to the decisions made by the Working Committee, he also emphasised the need of creating unity among members of the top rung leadership of the party.

It was after Wickremesinghe’s speech that Joseph Michael Perera, former Assistant Leader of the UNP, announced his resignation from the position allowing Karunanayake to become the new Assistant Leader of the UNP. When Premadasa’s name was proposed to the position of Deputy Leader, no one opposed and the Parliamentarian was promoted to the post unanimously. When all the appointments were made, Karu Jayasuriya, Chairman of the Leadership Council, rose to speak at the Working Committee meeting.

Jayasuriya said he always put the party’s interests before his personal agenda and was ready to sacrifice anything on behalf of the party. He also added that he, as a committed member and an UNPer to the core, did not intend to stand in the way of any positive development in the party. It was clear that Jayasuriya was referring to the ongoing dialogue on the dissolution of the 10 member party which handled almost all the operational matters of the party over the past several months.

At this point, Wickremesinghe intervened and said the party’s Leadership Council played a key role behind the recent success and he had no plans to abolish it. This was certainly a setback for Premadasa and his supporters as the abolition of the Leadership Council was one of their main pre-conditions! However, the future of the Leadership Council is still uncertain as a final decision has still not been made on the matter.

Harin Fernando, who was the Chief Ministerial Candidate of the UNP, also made several salient points on the Leadership Council saying Karu Jayasuriya, the Chairman of the Leadership Council, was the “unsung hero” of the Uva election battle. He said a victory of this scale would not have been possible without Jayasuriya’s contribution.

Jayasuriya was one person who strongly promoted Fernando’s Chief Ministerial candidacy from the very outset. He was of the firm belief that Fernando should be the Chief Ministerial Candidate of the main opposition party to make a difference at the Uva election. In a context where even the senior-most officials in the party expressed doubts about Fernando’s candidacy, Jayasuriya was the one who even held discussions with Fernando’s family members over the matter.

Fernando’s decision to resign from Parliament and contest the Uva PC election ended up being a masterstroke for the United National Party, but Jayasuriya’s involvement in the process was grossly underestimated. Fernando, in a way, acknowledged this situation when he said Jayasuriya was the “unsung hero” of the Uva battle.

Tissa’s revelation

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake also addressed the members of the Working Committee towards the end of the meeting. Attanayake’s main point was the way he worked towards finding a settlement between the two rival groups in the United National Party.

“Over the past few months, I held a number of discussions with various parties in this regard,” Attanayake said, specifically mentioning two parties with whom he conducted discussions. They were DNA Parliamentarian Tiran Alles and the Chairman of Capital Maharaja Organization Kili Maharaja. This was the first time Attanayake informed that he was in talks with those parties on creating “unity” in the UNP.

Attanayake made another unexpected move just before the Working Committee meeting of the party by resigning from the Leadership Council citing “personal reasons”. It was at the last Leadership Council meeting that Attanayake found himself in the middle of a heated dispute with Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake. It is still not clear whether the argument with Karunanayake played a role in Attanayake’s decision to resign from the Leadership Council.

Attanayake became a member of the 10-member Leadership Council on the basis that he was the General Secretary of the party. Functioning as a member of the Leadership Council was a part of the job role of the UNP General Secretary and it was recognised by the party leadership and the Working Committee.

Commenting on this matter, UNP Chairman Kabir Hashim, MP, has already told media that MP, Tissa Attanayake couldn’t quit the Leadership Council (LC) as long as he remained as the General Secretary of the party. According to him, it is mandatory for Attanayake to remain in the Leadership Council if he continues as the General Secretary of the party. However, Attanayake held a different view on this matter and said he could operate as the General Secretary of the party without being a member of the Leadership Council.

Maithri ridicules Leadership Council

However, just a few minutes after the Working Committee meeting, Maithri Gunarathne, a staunch supporter of Premadasa made a fiery statement over the conduct of the Leadership Council. Gunarathne, addressing reporters just minutes after the party Working Committee meeting, said the peon working at the UNP headquarters has more powers than the members of the UNP Leadership Council.

When asked about Fernando’s remarks over the role of the Leadership Council, Gunaratne said the Council had nothing to do with the Uva result. “It was solely based on the popularity of Harin Fernando and Sajith Premadasa’s decision to participate in the UNP convention in Passara, giving the supporters the idea that there is a sense of unity among the top rung members of the UNP Leadership . The Leadership Council did not play any role in increasing the vote base of the UNP,” Gunaratne said while adding that he did not agree with the opposition leader’s viewpoints on the Leadership Council.

“Even the General Secretary of the party, who was appointed by the party leader, has distanced himself from the Leadership Council. That alone is testament to the fact that the Leadership Council is nothing but a white elephant. They haven’t resolved any issue in the party. They haven’t even completed the appointment of electorate organisers. So what is the point in talking about the success of the Leadership Council” Maithri Gunaratne questioned. He made these remarks soon after the opposition leader instructed all members to refrain from criticising internal matters of the party in public. Gunaratne’s statement is a clear indication that the problems are not entirely solved in the main opposition party.

Challenges ahead of Ranil and Sajith

In the present equation, UNP National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has consolidated his position as the leader of the party and its Presidential candidate. In reality, the whole operation can be construed as a move to strengthen Ranil Wicrkremesinghe’s candidacy at the next Presidential election. Although Wickremesinghe was successful in strengthening his candidacy, it is still not clear whether he alone has the strength to defeat a formidable opponent like President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a presidential election.

By consolidating his position as the Presidential candidate, Wickremesinghe has also diffused the attempts towards fielding a UNP-backed common candidate with the support of other political parties of the opposition and like-minded civil organisations.

Sajith Premadasa too has to fight a new battle to establish credibility among his staunch supporters. Today, Premadasa has pledged to support Ranil Wickremesinghe if he is willing to contest the Presidential election as the UNP Candidate. However, several months ago, Premadasa and his supporters campaigned hard against the leadership of Wickremesinghe stating he was not suitable to lead the party, let alone Presidential candidacy. They demanded immediate removal of Wickremesinghe as the leader of the United National Party.

Today, taking a 180 degree turn, Premadasa says he would make his fullest contribution to make Wickremesinghe the next President of Sri Lanka. This raises a serious question over his bona fides and principles. Premadasa has still not given a solid reason for his 180 degree turn.

Meanwhile, it is also important to look into the manner in which the election result of the Uva Province has impacted the election plans of the Government. Earlier, it was in the grapevine that the government was planning to announce a “surprise” presidential election soon after the Uva Provincial Council election.

However, the results of the Uva PC election caught the ruling party by surprise as there was noticeable erosion in the vote base of the government. Therefore, the post-election propaganda campaign lost its momentum to a great extent as spokespersons of the government played on the “back foot” when questions were thrown at them by media.

This sudden mood-swing on the part of the government was visible in post-election media interviews given by top echelons of the government. For instance, speaking to a daily Sinhala newspaper, SLFP General Secretary and Senior Cabinet Minister Maithripala Sirisena said the Government had two more years in Parliament and was not in a hurry to go for a national level election. Before the Uva PC election, they said the PC polls would certainly be a prelude to a national level election.

“The Uva result has not made any negative impact on the Government. The ruling party has won the election with a good margin and we have a majority of four seats in the Provincial Council. So there is no problem about the stability of our administration. We are not in a hurry to go for an election. We will announce the election at the right moment,” the Minister said in the interview while adding that the opposition did not pose any threat to the Government.

Leader of the House Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva too made a statement and expressed doubts over some of the shortcomings of the previous administration of the Uva Province. He, speaking shortly after the election results were released, said the newly elected Provincial Council should be even more committed to serving people, correcting any shortcomings that in the last administration. The Minister’s electorate, Badulla, was also won by the United National Party after a keen contest.

Courtesy:The Sunday Leader