Opinion
Ranil ‘can’t win elections’ a myth: Replacing UNP leader will be a dangerous experiment
REPUBLISHED
Is there value in ousting Ranil?
When a political party faces a series of defeats over a considerable period, there is a tendency for
internal conflicts to occur. The UNP, the main opposition party which was expelled from power in 1994 is still struggling to come out of that chasm for nearly 17 years. There is a general perception that the Opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe cannot win elections. Everybody talks about ‘ousting Ranil’ and bringing someone else in. Is this really going to work? Will Mr. Wickremasinghe’s prospective successor overcome all the prevailing troubles and turn the UNP into a victorious party?
Real revamping or useless talk
I think it’s high time to discuss these matters in a thoughtful intelligent way. The internal conflicts within the UNP which were prevalent for quite some time now, have intensified after the landslide defeat the party suffered during the recent local government elections. After the defeat, many people said and wrote many things about revamping, restructuring and resurrecting the party.
A pragmatic approach that benefits the UNP is needed
Some of these suggestions are very useful and some are not. And we must admit that some of these suggestions indirectly serve the intentions and political well being of President Rajapakse and his government. Therefore, the UNP needs a
pragmatic approach towards this problem. That pragmatic approach should benefit the party, country and the citizenry. These reforms and changes should not be based on jealousy and hatred. Instead, they should strengthen the unity among the leaders, members and supporters of the party.
SLFP was in opposition 17 years too
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was also in the opposition for 17 long years from 1977 to 1994. During this time, the party was plagued by various internal crises. Quite naturally any political party has to face such internal conflicts, when it languishes in the opposition. This is a common reality for any political party in the world. Therefore, in order to avoid such rifts, these parties make various kinds of reforms and changes from time to time so that they can strengthen the party mechanism to regain power.
Replacing leader only an experiment
Therefore, the United National Party also needs a change. But what is it? Is it just ousting the party leader or something deeper and more productive than that? Replacing a leader will always be an experiment. For the UNP, this is not a time to invest too much in experiments because if they go wrong it will only serve to worsen the prevailing crises within the party.
The Sarath Fonseka experiment
The United National Party did a ‘great’ experiment by supporting the common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka in the 2010 presidential election. But at the end of the election, the common opposition candidate couldn’t even secure the
vote base which the UNP leader had in the presidential election in 2005. This risky experiment hurled the UNP supporters from the frying pan into the fire. It was totally a failure.
Fragmented
That is why the party should be very thoughtful when it is making drastic changes? Can a leadership change alone solve all the troubles that haunt the party? The UNP is now broken into many pieces. A large number of party supporters are inactive at the moment and they have adopted a ‘wait and see’ policy. There is another section of supporters who are still engaged in party activities, regardless of all the vicissitudes.
Enemies of the leadership are serving the enemies of the party
At the same time, there is another section of party activists whose behaviour is very detrimental to the party and its future. They are the people who criticize the party leader publicly and spread the idea that ‘Ranil cannot win elections’. Most of the people are engaged in this because they have ulterior motives and at the end of the day they are serving the enemies of the party. Sometimes, some of them might not be intending to pull back the party by their criticisms but anyhow that is the ultimate result.
We need a leader with different ideas to that of the ruling regime
It is quite obvious that the party leader has a huge role to play. Mainly, he has to unite all these factions and garner their support in all the activities of the party.He should have the knowledge experience and decision-making abilities. At the same time, he should have an alternative plan to address all the unaddressed socio-economic problems of this country which will be a vital factor for his success.
He should be an ‘out of the box’ thinker who can introduce new methods and solutions when it comes to addressing problems. His approach towards such questions should not be coterminous to that of President Mahinda Rajapakse, which is already proved to be ineffective. People have no use for a leader who seeks to implements plans and policies similar to Mr. Rajapakse’s.
Politically astute, internationally savvy
He should be a leader who can move along well with other nations and a person who can muster the support of the international community.In addition to this, people should recognize him as a leader who doesn’t give false promises on which he cannot deliver.
JR was labelled an imperialist too
Once, the late president J.R. Jayawardena also had the ‘imperialist’ and ‘anti-sinhala buddhist’ label and therefore he didn’t have much support from the grassroots level. But in 1977, he stormed into power with an overwhelming majority and established one of the most powerful governments in Sri Lanka’s history.
History repeats itself and the party can definitely make this happen again. That is why the party should be united and focus on its plan to regain power.
Can’t please everybody
There are some leaders who say “yes” to all the elements and struggle without being able to deliver on their promises. The UNP leader should be someone who has a backbone and therefore he must behave like a true leader. This doesn’t mean that he should act like an autocratic and totalitarian leader who suppresses and crushes all dissident viewpoints, but he should have the ability to pay attention to all voices and make the best and ideal decision in a straight forward manner. Basically, he should be a leader to and of everyone.
Who will lead and who is suitable?
Given all these circumstances,necessities and conditions we can analyze the leadership hopefuls of the UNP at this moment.
Karu Jayasuriya
Mr. Karu jayasuriya is widely regarded as a good gentleman. he is characterized with many good and magnanimous qualities. He is a man of principle and has already rendered a great service to the party. In the same way, he is indeed a popular leader among the public. He’s widely regarded as a person who doesn’t give false promises. Even as a person, he has many great qualities and I too can stand by this fact.
But, if he’s elevated to the leadership at this moment, it will possibly jeopardize his entire career as a politician. What if he fails to deliver the desired results? Then he will be downgraded as a leader and hence the party will lose one of its greatest assets. If he becomes the leader riding the crest of an ‘anti-Ranil’ wave he will surely be a hostage of the anti-Ranil elements in the party. Because they are the ones who elevated him to the leadership and this will not help the betterment of the party.
Sajith Premadasa
Mr. Sajith Premadasa is the other hopeful for the party leadership. He is widely considered as a popular leader. But there has been an erosion of his popularity too due to some of his recent activities. It is Mr. Premadasa’s duty to protect his popularity by his deeds. Otherwise he will also have to face the very same destiny. Sajith Premadasa has a huge response from the grassroots level. In the same way, he has the support from youth elements too. These two factors are essential to bring back the party to power. Therefore Mr. Premadasa’s support is vital for the party to battle against the Rajapakse regime.
Ranil Wickremasinghe
Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, on the other hand, is an experienced, intellectual leader who has gathered a lot of experience as a deputy minister, cabinet minister, prime minister,party leader and a leader of the opposition. He has come across so many vicissitudes and faced numerous challenges. In the early days, Mr. Wickremasinghe played a key role in J.R. Jayawardena’s cabinet as the Education minister and no one in the present UNP has that advantage. In addition to that. Mr. Wickremasinghe has a huge acceptance in the international domain.
But, there is a widespread speculation, even among the party members that Mr. Wickremasinghe cannot win elections. We should analyze that point deeply.
RW can’t win elections – a myth
In the recent local government election, the government received 4296207 votes. The UNP received 2360922 votes.
Ranil got more votes individually in 2005 than the UNP as a party in 2001 and 2011
In the presidential election in 2005, Mr. Wickremasinghe as an individual exceeded this number and he obtained 4706366 votes. In that election, a percentage of 73.73 voters cast their votes. This ( 4706366 ) even exceeds the number of votes that the party obtained during 2001 general election ( 4086026 ), with a little margin. Even in that election, a percentage of 76.03 voters cast their votes and the UNP secured a clean victory.
Stolen election: President Mahinda Rajapakse won the 2005 presidential election with the slimmest of margins amidst wide scale violations of laws and the deliberate disenfranchisement of nearly half a million voters
In the presidential election in 2005, Mr. Wickremasinghe was defeated with a thin margin of 180786 votes. President Mahinda Rajapakse won that election obtaining 4887152 votes. As independent political analysts say, Mr. Wickremasinghe almost won the presidential election in 2005, in spite of the label which was pasted on him by the opposition as a ‘Pro-LTTE’er.
Tamil Tiger deal and disenfranchisement
Mind you Mr. Wickremasinghe nearly won despite the fact that Tamils in the North were not allowed to vote and nearly 350,000 voters many of them from ethnic and religious minorities traditionally voting with the UNP in the south were deliberately disenfrachised by striking them off electoral lists.
Mr. Wickremasinghe nearly won even though at the very last moment, the LTTE prevented the people in the North from voting and it turned the entire election result on its head. There were more than 200,000 votes in these areas and these votes could have easily made the difference. There is a widespread speculation that the LTTE made this move, as the result of a dirty money deal.
2011 LG election voter turnout
In the recent Local Government election, only 65.57% voters have cast their votes. Those who did not make it to polling stations stand at 34.43%. It means that in the recent LG election, 4524291 (more than 4 and half million ) voters have not come to the polling stations. This even exceeds the number of votes which the government had obtained, by a margin of 200,000 votes.
The UNP needs 2 million votes to be formidable
If the UNP can get another 2 million votes out of this 4.5 million, then the party would be in a formidable position. These ‘missing votes’ actually belong to the UNP. The task remains ahead if the UNP is to regain this ‘lost’ vote base. It is crystal clear that Mr. Wickremasinghe still has the ability to form a government.
There was a move by the party seniors to oust him from leadership in 2000 but, one year later, in 2001 he was able to form a government. He almost succeeded in 2005 too. Nevertheless we have to admit that Mr. Wickremasinghe also has some faults which need to be addressed.
Need to be addressed
First of all, the party should be strengthened at the village level.In 1977, Mr. J.R. JAyawardena strengthened the party at the village level by collecting membership fees and making the villagers stakeholders of the party. All the MPs and organizers extended their fullest support to the leader. With this decision, Mr. J.R Jayawardena was able to resurrect the village level supporters.
Through out the party history, the UNP faced a few disastrous defeats, particularly in 1956 and 1970. Both these times, Mr. J.R. Jayawardena was the unshakable power which kept the party together without letting it fall apart. He made a strenuous effort to revive the party after devastating defeats and he succeeded on both occasions. So, it is not impossible for the present leaders to repeat this.
Only unity will help the UNP now
The UNP needs nothing but unity; the unity among its leaders and the unity among its supporters. The government has lavishly provided all the ‘raw materials’ and ‘prerequisites’ for the party to be united and forge ahead to form the new government.
The government survives because of UNP conflict
The government still survives without any trouble thanks to the numerous internal conflicts within the UNP. The government makes its utmost efforts to trigger the animosity between the UNP leaders and make these internal conflicts perpetual. So it’s high time the UNP leaders understood this situation.
Cake now cheaper than bread!
Sri Lanka is submerged in debt and all our resources are being exploited by foreign countries and they are making huge profits out of all these deals. Cost of living is sky rocketing and the government has fooled all the government sector workers by giving false promises about salary hikes. Even a loaf of bread has turned out to be a luxury food item. Amidst all these problems, how come the UNP remains silent?
That’s what the common man asks.
Even the common man should have uncommon opportunities
The UNP brought out a true revolution in 1977 and as a result of that, ‘the common man’ could afford to buy a television, refrigerator or a vehicle. But, the party could not explain this reality to the public, in a convincing manner. How can anyone forget the enormous hardships we all had to face during 1970-1977 era. As a result of this, people rallied around the party and took the initiative to form a UNP government.
It is true that Mr. Wickremasinghe as well as the UNP, have to confront various problems and most of them generated from “within”. These internal knife jabs are more vicious than the attacks they receive from the outside( the government). But once everyone understands the reality, it would not be so difficult to resurrect and revive the party. All leaders should be wise enough to address the ‘core problem’ without clinging on to those less important, superficial matters.
If they cannot opt for the obvious right choice which is visible before their own eyes, it is nothing but sheer ignorance and misfortune and petty personal agendas and personal grudges. Then no one should bother about the party anymore.
This article was first published on August 9,2001
35 Comments to “Ranil ‘can’t win elections’ a myth: Replacing UNP leader will be a dangerous experiment”
August 13, 2011 at 10:48 am
Replacing Ranil is not a SUFFICIENT condition for a revitalised opposition and restoration of equilibrium in the political system, BUT, it is certainly an IMMEDIATELY NECESSARY PRE-CONDITION for such a revival. Indeed, the Colombo Municipal Council is to the UNP what Kilinochchi was to the the LTTE. If it is lost, there will be no hope or institutional base for the UNP’s recovery. Therefore, if the moderate , democratic Opposition’s electoral demise is to be prevented, RW has to GO — IMMEDIATELY.
August 12, 2011 at 1:35 pm
To remind you all:PODA MAHINDA PODA
During Presidental Campain
Now we say PODA RANIL PODA
Ranil told PODA to the Great Leader Who Save Our NATION from PRABA
August 12, 2011 at 11:16 am
The key problem with Mr Tennakoon’s arguments is that the disunity has been brought about BECAUSE of Ranil’s failings as a leader. Could Mr Tennakoon show another example of a democracy where a party leader stays in power after losing so many elections??
As long as Ranil remains “leader for life,” the average person will never vote for the UNP because he or she knows that Ranil will run Sri Lanka the same way he runs the UNP- NO DEMOCRACY.
August 12, 2011 at 10:19 am
Mr. Karu Jayasooria or Mr. Sajth Premadasa, Mr.Ranil Wickramasingha all these three cannot win the election. UNP now as like a didable man UNP have to do lot. Mr. Malik Samarawickrama is very damage for the UNP Mr. Ranjith Wijayawardena and Malik hoping to hoist Ruwan Wijayawardene as a party leader for next supporte’s are gradually abandon the party. Mr. Malik Samarawickrama is a big cancer for the party.
August 12, 2011 at 9:50 am
UNP has fallen to this grade ‘cos of RW’s undemocratic behaviour. Almost all who crossedover ‘cos they couldn’t go ahaed with this useless leader. The cream has crossed over. He ruined the party. Still he is repeating his own mistakes. Its not that easy to bring UNP to its original positio.We all should get together to oust this undemocratic man, and bring a new leader to up grade the party, anyway it shouldn’t be KJ who too crossed over to strenghen the dirty hands of MR, and came back all alone (without his s-i-l even) to get the depty post. KJ is good to be sent a home for aged, he is famouse as a GOLUWA. What leadership for him? The best bet is SF.
August 12, 2011 at 9:36 am
Ranil should resign and start experiment to see unp do beter or worse with out him. Unp haven’t got any thing to loose.
August 12, 2011 at 8:21 am
Do not try to mislead people as you know that people are happy with the even minimum development taking place in the country after the war. Mr.RW knows that and he is waiting for the opportunity to agitate people on correct time.
August 12, 2011 at 8:15 am
What is missing in this article is that,general public has been persuaded by the war victory & war victory is the main weapon to win any elections, still it will be, until next generation.Anybody who talked against the war, like Ranils’ comment on Thoppigala & Ravi’s comment on Medavachchi. Still people remember this & people will punish UNP for the stupid mentality of both politicians.One more thing, being a leader who leads a an election propaganda should be an excellent orator like Wimal Weerawansa. Is Ranil has this talent? neither has no talent to use proper words,to convince the listeners with convincing ideas? Remember Ranil’PARRIPPU & HAAL MESSAO KARAWAL concept during 2005 election campaign? people laughed at him for his stupidity.
UNP has young talents, any one can name any one except Ranil & Ravi
August 12, 2011 at 7:54 am
Upali conveniently mentions that the SLFP was also in the opposition for 17 years but even more conveniently fails to mention that for it to leave the ranks of the opposition and return to government IT HAD TO CHANGE ITS LEADERSHIP AND PROFILE BY SUBSTITUTING CBK FOR MADAM SIRIMAVO! Until then the voters remebered the era of economic scarcities and queues, just as until Ranil is replaced, the voters will always recall the era of appeasement of the LTTE, the CFA etc. Does anyone think that the voters will regard Ranil as capable of defending the country from the overseas Tigers, the TGTE, the Tamil nadu challenge etc?
August 12, 2011 at 7:06 am
It is great analysis, Upali Aiya. As a senior journalist it is good thing you pointing out to show them the dangerous situation faced by nation at large without proper opposite clan to safeguard the democracy within the country.
August 12, 2011 at 6:52 am
Mr Tennakoon has done a very good analysis. Whatever analysis is done end of the day, if RW cannot win or he cannot get others to work with him end result is same. As you can;t clap with one hand but needs two, RW also should forget the past same as SP , and walk forward. As a leader and a very experienced politician RW should be willing to delegate and spend time in Sri lanka addressing the local issues. Some time we wonder whether he is Opp leader in Sri Lanka or the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka. Whatever ability RW has to develop this country (Which still I personally believe)is of no use if he cant form a government. So the task is not developing this country but getting elected to head the government, then only RW or any other person can implement their ideas for development of this country
August 12, 2011 at 6:45 am
After a long time a true analyze of present UNP. Ranil is a great leader and he can take country forward. We all know This government is corrupt and all there words are with full of venom … crime… curses. (just watch a parliament session)
Unity is the most important for the party. Sajith likes to impress and he shows so little to be seasoned leader also his recent acts are so selfish than anyone else. Karu is a great man but leaders need more strength than good man to handle such a bunch of trouble makers.
As Upul says there are many factions in the party and one he is not mentioned is.. the ones who stays in the party and work like a cancer with government sponsored money to make trouble within UNP
Lovely job Mr.UPALI!
August 12, 2011 at 6:29 am
I highly recommend MP Dayasiri can change the image of UNP today and challenge MR. Sajith has a bad record about treasure looting during his father’s regime. These facts will come out if he happens to lead the party.
August 12, 2011 at 6:21 am
UNP failed because…..
UNP failed because they did not respect the sentiments of the majority Sinhalese. They failed because they did not have the balls to sincerely fight against LTTE…. I have to admit they also failed because RW was not as tough as MR….
August 12, 2011 at 6:16 am
RW should remain as the leader for the next 7-10 years. During this time no one can win against PA.
What UNP need to do is to develop a leader for the next decade. A young 30-35 year old who will be able to contest against PA in 10 years time. A leader who does not have to cry foul over the past elections to win the hearts of the voters….a leader who does not have to bear the baggage of UNP’s traitorous past, someone who does not have to inherit that position from his family… someone who cares.. someone who gives a shit beyond personal benefits…. some one who is honest.
RWs, Sajith Premadasa’s and Karu Jayasuriya’ duty today is making sure they will be a strong opposition who will ensure that the democracy prevails for the next 10 years instead of trying to become the leader of the country which is impossible and really not required!
Cheers
August 12, 2011 at 6:11 am
1. People of this country must be made adequately aware of the UNP’s proposed policy package as being a better alternative to the present government’s.What needs to be implemented in this country is a set of policies of the Party (not any ones personal “Chinthanas”or policies, past or present,(eg. Bandaranayake policies, Premadasa Policies, Mahinda Chintanaya etc.)voted by the people at an election.
2. People would wish to see the most competent, experienced and decent leader of the UNP to head the party and campaign for the above policies.
3. People would like this leader to be appointed in terms of the Party’s constitutional provisions and procedures.Campaigns in this regard should be conducted in a decent and respectable manner within the party membership. Democratic unity of the Party needs to be maintained. Any unseemly squabbles in its ranks would lose people’s respect for the UNP and prospects of it coming to power again will be remote.
4. People would like the Party leadership to take disciplinary action against any party member who violates the unity of the party and its constitution. No one is indispensable.
5. People would like the UNP, while not in power, to contribute to serve them as a responsible opposition to prevent Government’s excesses and wrong doings and not as a crude and weak force that aims desperately at toppling the government of the day.
August 12, 2011 at 4:44 am
Sorry but I have to disagree. The problem is two folds:
1. UNP lost the elections since they lost the feel of common mans pulse. Mejority of voters are not affluent city crowds. UNP never publish their policies on a issue when needed but wait to see govenment policy and then criticise for the sake of it. Things like critical of militery offensive against the LTTE and what UNP said from time to time laid solid anti nationalist perception in common man mind. One can’t change such voting patterns no matter what properganda. But UNP still does not get it like lukeworm response to mounting pressure from international community against Human rights issues. These things does not help to counter anti nationalistic stance taken in the past.
Why all this ? Ranil has filled party positions and surrounded him with his yes sir men. He runs a dictatorship in UNP policy matters. UNP lost and keep loosing elections due to wrong policies and directions given by Ranil and Ranil alone. Therefore changing the leadership and changing such policies and new ideas with instil confidance in voters mind. UNP need a new beginning in terms of policies and direction. This is what this writter missed out.
August 12, 2011 at 4:43 am
Go for it and see what happens. Sri Lanka had some luck to not have RW in power in 2005. If V.P. supported RW to bring him to power and played his usual game, today we would be living in a LTTE country. Now we have a real fearless leader who does not lick shoes of Western powers. Sri Lanka need a leader not a worm.
August 12, 2011 at 4:25 am
good try but a stupid article. because people like u UNP has lost elections in a row. in your article your trying to convince the reader that RW is still the option. you cant compare JR with RW. there is a vast gulf between the 2. JR’s stubborn decisions brought results unlike with RW. RW’s tactics have proven a failure over and over again.he has lost elections since 1994 except for the 2 years in early 2k. also the remarks he and his goons made during the war has caused irreparable damage to the UNP. you are trying to convince the reader about the results in the 2004 election with SF\s candidature. i think you have been sleeping for so long. If RW was the ideal candidate what did he back off and give the ticket to SF? he knew that if he was the candidate he would not get even 10 votes as voters in SL remembers those remarks such as “thoppigala kelayak”, “alimankada pamankada”, “kilinochi medawachi”, etc. also his efforts during the war to say “kelam” to the international community brought in further pressure on SL. i can keep going on and on about his failure as a leader. but this is a comment and not an article. but let me conclude my comment by telling never try to compare JR with RW and if he is an gentleman he should have stepped down after the very 1st defeat as leaders in UK and USA do.
August 12, 2011 at 3:24 am
We have to have a leader who can convince that the leader is cairing them, Poorerand Youth segment of the society. We can build the foreign relationship with a good FM like Ranil Wickramasinghe. Therefor my belief is ,if Mr sajith Premadasa given the leadership of UNP he can delivier the desired results by the party.The nearest to Mr Sajith Premadsa is Mr Karu Jayasooriya who is a Gentelmann in Politics. Karu- Sajith combination is a winning combination for UNP. It is accepteble in this situation hand over the UNP to Mr Karu Jayasooriya. MR Ranil Wickramasinghe is intelligent ,he is experienced and connected to the world than all others even Mr MR has no such experience but his toch to commen man is zero.
August 12, 2011 at 3:16 am
Rosy should take over the leadership of the UNP & reorganise the party and prepare for the next general election. She has a proven track record as a leader.She speaks very good Sinhalese and fluent in English.Ranil has to go – he is no democrat. A serial loser holding onto power and holding back the party has no place in it.
August 12, 2011 at 3:07 am
If people think that a leader who could not make the UNP winnable for the past 17 years can lead that party to victory, they are only day dreaming.With the murders of their budding leaders such as Lalith, Gamini and Ranjan the UNP has been left with weak leaders. The UNP has been lacking strength to believe in their own strength instead relying on a leader who cannot be elected. Look at the examples of rest of the world. Election of Tony Blair in the UK as a young leader when the Labour party was unelectable and election of Kevin Rudd as a young leader without much experience in Australia when the Labour party was unelectable are classic examples.
The only party who will be happy to keep RW as the leader of the UNP is the Government.
August 12, 2011 at 11:01 am
Sorry, I forgot to mention Sri Lanka’s own example – Chandrika Kumaranatunga who brought the un-electable SLFP/PA to power without any previous experience. If not for CBK, SLFP will probably be still in the opposition just like the UNP today.
August 11, 2011 at 7:21 am
Mr. Lal, I am puzzled as to what kind of leadership qualities one should have to challenge MR? Do you really think that the personality who came up to the stage to challenge MR at the last presidential election was less suitable? I do not think that our people are much concerned of leadership qualities. These values may be actual for somewhere else but not for SL where more than 60% of children fail maths at O/Ls.
As for me, RW is the most intelligent and honest politician in our time. If he were given a chance to lead our country he would have probably made our country a miracle of Asia. He has the vision requisite to find an everlasting solution to the ethnic issue and to drag foreign investors in to our economy. Even mighty Russia who has everything is asking western financial giants to invest in Russia.
But now, I think the time has come for RW to step down. Retire from everything and enjoy the rest of your life! Why should you go through such a humiliation all the time? Moral values vary from society to society.
August 11, 2011 at 7:16 am
We cannot stay aloof of the natural phenomena. Whenever there are defeats political or otherwise, the natural course of action is to place the responsibilities of managing the lost body/team in new hands. Otherwise masses will not stake their confidence in old and lost leadership. Pragmatism means living in reality in addition to many other contextual meanings it may have. We have seen number of views expressed on the predicament of UNP. A political party has to amongst many other activities have a mechanism to read the minds of masses (meaning those ordinary people who carry lunch boxes to their work!!!!!! and those who till vast swathes of land in scorching heat to elk out a living). These people are least interested in various theories propounded with regard to the UNP defeat. They are simply saying “tell us something that will give confidence to us on the UNP abilities”. Very many feel that Sri Lanka’s electorate is in Colombo… it is not. May be it is the largest electorate and also everyone should note that no party had the ability to muster enough support for a landslide victory in Colombo at any of the … recently concluded elections. The electoral balance is always tilted by the rural folk. It is true not only for Sri Lanka but many other third world countries. Therefore what is required today is for UNP to appeal to the rural folk. I will stop at that.. Just think who amongst the today’s UNPers who has the ability to appeal to the rural folk…. Those other “brilliant brains/strategists” could get to work after UNP comes back to power through such an appealing personality!!!!!!!
August 11, 2011 at 5:55 am
we failed because we are divided.
Bringing G/Fonseka in to the seen was our foolishness.
We lost our vote base because of this and the people lost confidence in us.
August 12, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Very true… It’s an engineered/maneuvered by so called Mangala Samaraweera who crossed over to UNP for obviously power & money. SF is politically not matured and he may not mature politically as he is a swollen headed person who is greedy for power. So figure it out. Right now the Country needs a strong opposition for a healthy political debate. But we see all MP are bullshitting at the parliamentary sessions. It’s a joke. Not a single constructive dialog is happening in the parliament but showing uneducated, immature behavior all around.
August 14, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Conflicting messages didn’t help either. Ranil gave an interview to GTV, which is on youtube too, where he said, he was not responsible for Karuna’s split from the LTTE. He also said, Fonseka was only acting under the government orders, effectively ruling out Fonseka’s bold claim that he was the boss in the war.
August 11, 2011 at 5:03 am
I agree with the writer Mr.Upali Tennakoon,who is a well respected journalist He has analyzed the problem within the UNP.THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO HAVE DISUNITY.THERE IS A SAYING ‘UNITED WE STAND AND DIVIDED WE FALL’.THIS IS WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE UNP. STOP THE INFIGHTING AND RALLY ROUND RANIL, WHO IS A VERY EXPERIENCED AND MATURE POLITICIAN.
August 12, 2011 at 11:10 am
But hasn’t Ranil led the UNP to defeat after defeat while it was united???
August 14, 2011 at 2:47 pm
August 10, 2011 at 7:27 am
Today’s requirement is a strong leadership like JRJ. When MR changed the constition to run the third term, he said that he will run, until opposition come up with a suitable candidate to challange him. Who possess these strong leadership qualities to challange MR or his regime? Mr.RW or Mr.Karu J or Mr. Sajith P.
August 10, 2011 at 6:51 pm
Thank you for comment and my personal view is we don’t have more time for experiment and it is a more and more dangerous situation. Strong strength is unity.If united altogether they can challenge anybody.All must understand it.
August 12, 2011 at 11:18 am
Lal, JRJ was the absolute worst leader in Sri Lankan history. He created Executive Presidency claiming that he would bring order and prosperity to Sri Lanka. Ten years later the LTTE and Indian army were in the north and the JVP was in the south. A total failure.
August 14, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Absolutely right. He was a control maniac and a jerk in the truest sense – responding with thuggery to the weak and tucking his tail when had to face formidable challenges like LTTE.