{"id":23384,"date":"2013-07-28T18:05:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-28T22:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=23384"},"modified":"2013-07-28T18:05:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-28T22:05:34","slug":"unp-will-feel-the-absence-of-dayasiri-jayasekara-whenever-the-party-needs-a-participant-for-a-tv-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=23384","title":{"rendered":"UNP Will Feel the Absence of Dayasiri Jayasekara whenever the Party Needs a Participant for a TV Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

by <\/p>\n

Ranga Jayasuriya<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crossovers in Sri Lankan politics are cyclic. In 2001, during an earlier bout of pole vaulting, the former military spokesman turned then ruling People\u2019s Alliance Parliamentarian, Sarath Munasinghe, was asked by a scribe whether he would be among a group of ruling party parliamentarians rumoured to be planning to cross over to the opposition.<\/p>\n

Munasinghe denied and pledged his allegiance to the government passionately, and said \u201cnot even my dog will go to the UNP.\u201d<\/p>\n

A week later, when incentives appeared to be too irresistible, he cleared the fence. A government MP later told the House, tongue in cheek, that, General Munasinghe had bolted to the UNP, having chained his dog and left it at home.<\/p>\n

Last week, there had been another crossover of one-time UNP firebrand, Dayasiri Jayasekara. Even before he announced his defection, President Mahinda Rajapaksa told a public event that a \u2018singing elephant\u2019 is joining the government; a reference to Dayasiri\u2019s reputation as a reality TV star.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

However, Dayasiri kept his constituency in suspense until the eleventh hour, until he made his special statement in Parliament on Wednesday and, after a long speech, in which he castigated the UNP leadership, he finally announced that his resignation from the UNP in order to run for the North-Western Provincial Council election from the government\u2019s nomination list.<\/p>\n

Orchestrated and manipulated<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cGive back to Caesar, what belongs to Caesar, he quoted from Synoptic gospel and added that he would be leaving the preferential votes he won, at the feet of Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.<\/p>\n

Crossovers do not happen in a vacuum. They are orchestrated, manipulated and most times, are bought over. In 2007, when 18 senior UNP parliamentarians crossed over to the government, they were all rewarded with ministerial portfolios. In 2001, when a group of then ruling party parliamentarians jumped the ship, leading to elections and a subsequent, though a short-lived UNP government, it was a public secret, that many pole-vaulters were substantially rewarded. Those who followed this chequered path in the subsequent years were equally compensated; many had their unpaid loans written off and one was even saved from potential Prevention of Terrorism Act charges over allegedly harbouring a terrorist, who was plotting to kill the President.<\/p>\n

Crossovers are obviously an act of perfidy, a betrayal of public trust. However, ethics apart, they are perfectly legal and constitutional under a rather strange Supreme Court ruling, which has now set the precedence and issued by then Chief Justice, Sarath Nanada Silva.<\/p>\n

Chief Justice Silva ruled that parliamentarians are free to cross over at their whims and fancies. He noted, borrowing from a previous judgment issued by Justice Amaratunga, that under the British Parliamentary System, which is primarily based on the first-past-the-post system, the parliamentarians have freedom to cross over according to their conscience. However, the problem is that Sri Lanka\u2019s is a hybrid system. Under its electoral system and associated preferential votes system, the candidates are elected on behalf of the party, on the merit of the votes acquired by the Party. In this context, freedom accorded to the MPs to cross over is a misnomer. Dayasiri Jayasekara\u2019s crossover would weaken an already depleted UNP, than it would strengthen an already jubilant government.<\/p>\n

UNP weakened<\/strong><\/p>\n

The UNP is divided, frail and dormant. Dayasiri\u2019s defection, the latest in a long list of over 65 MPs, who have jumped the ship, would be proof of the UNP\u2019s dire political situation. The grand old Party had relegated itself to a ceremonial opposition and its leadership, Ranil Wickremesinghe, metamorphosed himself into a \u2018kept\u2019 opposition leader. He is kept in his place courtesy the benevolence of Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose government thrives in the absence of a functioning parliamentary opposition.<\/p>\n

Dayasiri Jayasekara was viewed by some sections of UNP supporters as a potential leader in the making. He had charisma and public appeal that Ranil Wickremesinghe lacked. He had been articulate and did not mince his words in his stringent attacks on the government, unlike Sajith Premadasa who had been rather coy.<\/p>\n

However, even when Dayasiri and his ilk were with the UNP, the Party had been largely dormant and lacklustre in political activism. It would be worse off without Dayasiri Jayasekara.<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding the initial jubilation within the government, it is open to question whether Dayasiri would be a value addition to the ruling regime, which is already riding high on a wave of popular support from its constituency. That is a retrogressive constituency, which itself is largely rural, poor, nationalistic and overwhelmingly Sinhala Buddhist. That is a constituency, which had historically been subjected to manipulation and social engineering, an exercise which has its roots in 1956, and backfired, gravely eroding the prospects of a nation.<\/p>\n

Whereas, Dayasiri, until last week had been cosmopolitan in his outlook. He had been the antithesis of Wimal Weerawansa, who has a receptive audience among the ruling Party supporters. Dayasiri would soon be addressing to this particular audience and scrumming for a share of it. He may find himself a mismatch.<\/p>\n


\nLikely prospects<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dayasiri is unlikely to carry the majority of his UNP voters with him. Nor did any of his predecessors succeed doing that. He would, however, eat into the ruling Party\u2019s vote base. One of his predecessors to cross over, Johnston Fernando topped the preferential votes, winning 136,000 votes, well ahead of UPFA seniors Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, S.B. Nawinna and T.B. Ekanayake, in the general election held in 2010, soon after he pole vaulted to the government. Dayasiri Jayasekara, who contested from the UNP came second, winning 132,000 votes.<\/p>\n

On his part, Dayasiri is well poised to deny the UPFA senior Athula Wijesinghe, former Chief Minister a return to his portfolio. S.B. Nawinna, another party senior who expressed his desire to run for the Chief Ministerial post is now a disappointed man.<\/p>\n

In the rotten Sri Lankan politics, the electorate is always yearning for novelty, though they happen to frequently find that what is presented as new is in fact, the same wine in new bottles. Still, in this backdrop, there is little reason to doubt Dayasiri\u2019s electability as the Chief Minister of the North-Western Province.<\/p>\n

For the already waned UNP, Dayasiri\u2019s defection would add an insult to injury. The UNP is condemned to contest the North-Western Provincial Poll while the former front man of the party in the Kurunegala District is running for the Chief Ministerial position from the UPFA. That is, indeed an unenviable situation for the UNP. In this backdrop, its performance is a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n

Sri Lankan politics is decided not by principles, but by personalities. That many such personalities turned out to be hollow is a different question. The UNP, the Grand Old Party, which had been the bastion of some of larger-than-life personalities, are now a barren land. Dayasiri Jayasekara had been one such rare political personality that the UNP had until last week. His absence would be felt every time the Party would look for a participant for a TV debate.<\/p>\n

COURTESY:CEYLON TODAY<\/em><\/p>\n

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by Ranga Jayasuriya Crossovers in Sri Lankan politics are cyclic. In 2001, during an earlier bout of pole vaulting, the former military spokesman turned then ruling People\u2019s Alliance Parliamentarian, Sarath Munasinghe, was asked by a scribe whether he would be among a group of ruling party parliamentarians rumoured to be planning to cross over to …<\/p>\n

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