The most talked about political event last week was the Party Convention of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the ruling party in Parliament as it faced unique challenges following the economic crisis in the country in 2022 that led to the resignation of then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The SLPP remains in Government albeit with President Ranil Wickremesinghe being the Head of State and Head of Government. President Wickremesinghe was endorsed at a vote in Parliament to choose a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa and won the vote comfortably with the SLPP’s support.
Since then, despite occasional differences of opinion with the leadership of the SLPP and some of its key figures, President Wickremesinghe has governed with a SLPP dominated Cabinet without much difficulty. Significantly, he has retained almost the entire Cabinet that last served under Rajapaksa.
The vast majority of Parliamentarians in the SLPP have their roots in their parent party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), as do their leaders in the Rajapaksa family. Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was not a member of the SLFP is an exception. The United National Party (UNP) and the SLFP have been bitter rivals for decades.
Despite this rivalry and the differences in their respective ideologies, the UNP being more liberal and inclusive in its outlook, the SLFP and the SLPP being more protectionist and nationalistic, President Wickremesinghe has managed to govern with a SLPP majority Government while leading the UNP.
It must be noted that in the period between Rajapaksa’s resignation and now, there were no elections. Local Government (LG) Elections were due in March this year but have been postponed. As a result, there has been little room for friction between the SLPP and the UNP.
The next year, 2024, is however billed as an election year. Although Parliamentary Elections are not due until August 2025, Presidential Elections must be held by October 2024 under the terms of the Constitution. There is potential for the UNP and the SLPP to go their separate ways at this point.
It is for this reason that the SLPP Convention was observed with great interest. There were questions as to whether the SLPP would declare its intention(s) vis-à-vis the Presidential Election and whether the statements of its speakers would target the UNP in addition to other political parties.
There was also interest in the Convention because it was the SLPP’s first test of strength after the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as President and the tumultuous events of May 2022. There was a general perception that its popularity had declined after recording unprecedented mandates at the last Presidential and General Elections.
The Convention was held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo. In the lead up to the event, it was mocked on social media. These events suggested that there was an organised attempt to disrupt the Convention and demoralise its attendees.
Friday afternoon, when the Convention was held, was also marred by inclement weather. Despite this, reports suggested that the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium had a capacity crowd, estimated to be over 5,000. The event, which also included several cultural performances, proceeded without any incidents.
It is unclear whether President Wickremesinghe was invited to the Convention or not and did not make an appearance. Nevertheless, Vajira Abeywardena, the sole Parliamentarian of the UNP and a loyalist of President Wickremesinghe was present. This indicated that UNP-SLPP relations had not soured.
However, the most notable absentee was former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He has opted to lead a life away from the limelight since resigning from office in July last year. There has been some public criticism of his policies. It appears the SLPP leadership did not insist on his attending the Convention.
Speeches at the SLPP convention were limited to those by its General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, the party’s founder and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and party leader and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. They all stoutly defended the party’s actions during the past few years.
SLPP founder Basil Rajapaksa said the party was confident of winning whatever elections that will be held next. All major development projects that were undertaken recently were completed when Mahinda Rajapaksa was President, he said, urging party members to work together to ensure victory.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa again demonstrated that he is a political leader who could command the respect and attention of a crowd. He too recounted the achievements of his terms of office with particular reference to ending the Eelam War which plagued the country for three decades.
A comment that attracted much attention came from SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasm. He stated that in any country, for every 100 children born, there were three children who were not at all productive, were never gainfully employed and went around accusing others of being ‘rogues’.
This was a thinly veiled reference to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), now conducting political activities under the banner of the Jathika Jana Balavegaya (JJB). Both at the last Presidential and General Elections in 2019 and 2020, the percentage of votes polled by the JVP was three per cent.
Kariyawasam’s remarks are significant and cannot be dismissed as an off the cuff statement. This is for the reason that the SLPP now sees the JJB as its main rival. It is also a reflection of the political momentum gained by the JJB recently, which was first evident in the early months of this year.
None of the speakers – Kriyawasam, Basil Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa – aimed their rhetoric against the UNP, their historical and ideological rivals, which was also noteworthy. This suggests that the UNP-SLPP alliance is still very much intact, despite numerous reports to the contrary.
Former President Rajapaksa was unanimously re-elected leader of the party, after being proposed to that post by Gamini Lokuge, that nomination being seconded by Johnston Fernando. In what was an interesting development no other new officials were elected or appointed at Friday’s Convention.
It therefore did not come as a surprise that no announcement was made regarding a Presidential candidate. Business magnate Dhammika Perera was seated in the front row with other special invitees, prompting speculation that he would be the candidate but that did not eventuate.
It was widely speculated that Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, seen by many as the leader of the SLPP’s next generation, would be appointed to a position of significant responsibility in the party. However, no such announcement was made and the younger Rajapaksa kept a low profile.
On Saturday, the leadership of the SLPP met again at the official residence of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo. Two key appointments were made. Sagara Kariyawasam was re-appointed General Secretary of the Party and Pavithra Wanniarachchi was appointed Treasurer.
The vital position of National Organiser of the party, previously held by Basil Rajapaksa, was kept vacant. This has caused confusion among some SLPP members who queried why such a decision was taken. Explaining, General Secretary Kariyawasam said that this was done at Basil Rajapaksa’s request.
“Basil Rajapaksa assures he would anyway perform the duties of the National Organiser as he did in the past. Even the Convention itself was organised by him. So, with the hope that he will accept it at some point, we decided not to appoint anyone to that post,” Kariyawasam explained.
Even so, observers have noted that, by keeping the position of National Organiser vacant, the SLPP is adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach. Should the necessity arise to field a Presidential Candidate of its own, such a candidate could fill the now vacant role of National Organiser, they have pointed out.
The consensus that emerges following the SLPP convention is that, while the SLPP-UNP coalition is still very much alive and that the relations between the two parties and particularly between President Wickremesinghe and the SLPP leadership are very cordial, the SLPP is keeping its options open.
This is only because the political climate in Sri Lanka is so dynamic. It is unclear when Presidential Elections will be held and, and if they are, whether President Wickremesinghe will contest. In such a scenario, the SLPP is taking a very pragmatic approach about its immediate future.
With the clock ticking steadily towards the deadline at which point the Presidential Elections have to be conducted- mid-October next year- there will be more clarity. For now though, the SLPP will be happy that it was able to stage a successful Convention, after the massive reversal it suffered last year.
