There are, no doubt, going to be mixed reactions on the decision of former Prime Minister and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to relinquish his party’s leadership which he held for 26 long years. The decision was conveyed at a meeting of UNP stalwarts held at the Party headquarters Sirikotha on Monday. Five names have been put forward for the post left vacant by Wickremesinghe, but it is moot if they could fit the bill. In any event, they are hardly leadership material, one among them even hauled before a Presidential Commission in connection with the Central Bank Bonds scam which led in no small measure to the decimation of the Grand Old Party at the just concluded General Election.
There will of course be recriminations and debates on the leadership provided by the Wickremesinghe to the UNP. True, under his leadership the UNP won and lost elections though the losses far outnumbered the victories. Though Prime Minister several times he was never able to complete any of those terms.
Wickremesinghe, no doubt, came into heavy criticism for his aloof nature and lack of empathy with the masses, a far cry from past UNP leaders such as Dudley, JR and Premadasa who had the knack of cultivating mass appeal. His neo-liberal policies had little relevance to the Sri Lankan masses who were bred and nurtured in a totally different ethos centered on Sinhala Buddhist traditions. This the former UNP leader failed to grasp and adapt to the situation. He once offered free Wi-Fi to rural villagers who were yearning just to get a good price for their produce.
He was also accused of fostering a cabal within the party of selected henchmen largely drawn from his Alma Mater, resulting in cronies placed in important positions for which they were ill equipped. This selective treatment of a small coterie alienated a sizable sections of old timers in the party resulting in a mass exodus. Any individual seen as a challenge to his leadership was cut down to size and never allowed to progress within the party hierarchy. This was in contrast to JRJ who promoted a second tier leadership within the UNP with men such as Lalith Athulathmudali, Gamini Dissanayake and Ranasinghe Premadasa.
As a result, the UNP is today bereft of a credible leadership that would be acceptable to the larger masses and with the stunning defeat it suffered at this election it will be difficult to predict the fate of the Grand Old Party. His neo-liberal attitudes cast him as an outsider, nay an alien,who was not in touch with local realities and the aspirations of the masses. This mentality aligned to the West made the majority community, steeped in a national ethos, view the UNP leader with suspicion. His personal bearing and appearance, always kitted up in tie and coat, only went onto exacerbate the negative image the locals had built of him. Perhaps, the final nail was his apparent open indulgence of separatist elements and his attitude towards devolution which was always viewed by the majority population as a sellout.
His political opponents hardly missed an opportunity in driving the point home during election time not failing to expound on his affiliations towards the West and alleged appeasement of separatist elements including the Tamil diaspora putting him on the back foot from the word go.
Add to this his recent actions as Prime Minister to apparently permit a war crimes probe against Members of the Security Forces, and what is more, trials to be heard by international jurists, no doubt, alienated the masses including large segments of UNP supporters which gave rise to his being cast as an anti-nationalist, at a time the Security Forces who defeated the LTTE and secured the country’s territorial integrity were being adored by the majority community. Sponsoring a UN resolution jointly with the US and Britain to haul Sri Lanka over the coals perhaps was the last straw that sealed the fate of Wickremesinghe and the UNP.
Today the Grand Old Party has been reduced to a rump with stalwarts unable to come to terms with the unprecedented setback. The party that once ruled the country with a five sixth majority in Parliament is now facing the ignominy of being totally wiped out from the electoral map. Who would have thought the UNP who governed the country for half of its 72 year old post-independence history would fail to send even a single elected member to Parliament at a General Election and only managed to save its blushes by securing a solitary Member via the National List?
As this piece was being written, reportedly, talks were being held within the inner circles of the party to make former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya fill in the breach at least for the time being. Only time will tell if this move will bear fruit to reverse the fortunes of the Grand Old Party.
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