 |
| President Anura Kumara Dissanayake addressing a Presidential election campaign in September. |
By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham
Colombo, October 26: Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe is not a political leader to get diminished or hurt by election defeats. But he must have been hurt about his defeat in the last Presidential election as it was probably the last chance for him to be elected by the people to the high and powerful office of Executive President. He is already 75.
After losing two Presidential elections, Wickremesinghe avoided making a third attempt. The Executive presidency that had eluded him for more than a quarter of a century finally came to him unexpectedly two years ago. In the absence of others willing to bear the economic cross, he took charge and was elected by parliament to be President without going for a direct election.
Wickremesinghe had high hopes that the people will endorse him after the semblance of normalcy that he had managed to restore through economic restructuring that he did with the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But he failed to sense the resentment among people against traditional political leaderships after the 2022 popular uprising.
Though he is not contesting the November 21 parliamentary elections, Wickremesinghe has decided to continue to be involved in politics as the leader of the United National Party(UNP). His comments indicate that he is satisfied that the government-led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is continuing to carry out the economic restructuring measures he initiated.
He seems to be of the opinion that his advice on economic policies will continue to be needed. Wickremesinghe has issued two special statements to the people in a week. He asked the people to vote for the gas cylinder symbol to re-elect the politicians who had worked with him for the past two years. Therefore it is clear that Wickremesinghe believes that President Dissanayake and the National People’s Power (NPP) government will have to face severe problems in dealing with economic problems and the international partners.
In his first statement on October 17, the former president warned that the government will face a huge challenge in raising government revenue when it starts repaying foreign debts in four years time. Wickramasinghe, who has always been proud of taking over the government with courage at a time when no other politician came forward in the midst of the economic and political crisis two years ago, noted that it is essential to have experienced people and people who do not shirk responsibilities in parliament.
He asked the people who rejected the same cylinder in the Presidential election to send back to parliament those who occupied key positions in his administration.
Exactly a week later, on October 24, Wickramasinghe issued another special statement. His second statement was related to the controversy sparked by Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Kammanpila over the current government’s alleged failure to release reports of the two committees appointed by him to investigate the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
Gammanpila, who gave the government a week’s time to release the reports, released one of them last Monday. The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, who spoke to the media after that, accused Wickremesinghe’s government of appointing committees to avenge certain former senior police officers who had worked with the NPP during the Presidential election.
The former President said in his statement that comments xpressed by Cardinal Ranjith were baseless and it was the Catholic Bishop Conference which should come up with its stance on reports and no one should play politics using the Easter Sunday attacks and probe reports.
He also demanded last week that the NPP government should implement the salary hike proposals for government employees approved by his cabinet and said the money needed to implement the increment had already been allocated. But, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who addressed an election campaign meeting in Puttalam last week said, that no money was allocated.
The President criticized Wickremasinghe of making various attempts to capture power again by creating issues or spreading lies. He added the former president should stay at home.
The NPP and other parties gave a lot of promises during the Presidential election without thinking about the feasibility of implement them. President Dissanayake is now asking people to give him overwhelming support in the parliamentary elections to form a strong NPP government to deliver on his promises.
But as far as the opposition parties are concerned, they are now at a loss as to what to say when asking for votes. Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa is in a pathetic situation. He says that his party has no problem in cooperating with the new President. So what is the necessity for the people to vote for Premadasa’s party? Will they vote for the NPP to form a government to strengthen the hands of the President or will they support SJB to cooperate with him?
Be that as it may, the comments made by President Dissanayake and Minister Vijitha Herath in the election campaign that there is no need for an opposition in the next parliament and that it is the responsibility of the voters to ensure that political opposition is eliminated, are very controversial.
“What the country needs today is a powerful government and not an opposition. Therefore, the next parliament should be filled with representatives of the NPP. After the results of the Presidential election, more than sixty politicians who were in the previous parliament opted out to stay away from elections for reasons known to everyone. Voters should complete the task of cleansing parliament by defeating the remaining corrupt politicians and the new ones who are contesting on behalf of the rival political parties, ” the NPP leaders said in Katunayake last Sunday.
By electing Dissanayake as the new President, the people rejected the traditional political parties and their leaders and expressed their faith in him as a new leader who could bring about change. The people have clearly shown that they are not ready to tolerate the misrule by former mainstream parties, corruption and abuse of power any longer. It is up to the people to decide how to deal with the political parties that are contesting now after their defeat at the Presidential election.
It is the people of Sri Lanka who have demonstrated that they can oust those who created a corrupt political culture from power by taking to the streets and revolting before rejecting them through a democratic electoral process. At the same time, they were the ones who took advantage of the first opportunity to exercise their right to vote after a popular uprising the likes of which Sri Lankan history had never seen before, and ensured a smooth transition of power in a peaceful election last month.
People brought to power Dissanayake who is also the leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which had led two armed insurgencies. People believed that NPP has fully transformed itself into a credible democratic party. It seems that people do not want to hold the JVP hostage to its past violence no longer.
The comment that only a strong government is the need of the day and there is no need for an opposition in parliament will definitely make people doubt their commitment to parliamentary democratic politics. It is therefore imperative that the President and NPP leaders reassure their commitment to democratic politics. Even after criticisms were made in the media regarding their speechs at Katunayaka, the President or Minister Herath have not issued any clarification. Do they stand by their undemocratic utterances?
Cleansing the parliament should only mean democratically defeating the corrupt political class and sending them home, but not by asking the people to obliterate the opposition. (Courtesy-NewsIn Asia)
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Colombo)
Post a Comment