‘Jumbo’ in disarray: so is the clone!

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

A car pulls up at the entrance to Parliament. There is no guard of honour or gun salute, and the only sound comes from a cool breeze across the Diyawanna Oya, making the Sri Lankan flag and the President’s flag on the vehicle flutter. Out steps that simple man in whom Sri Lankans have reaffirmed their trust. From the other side alights his wife, who reminds us of the late First Lady Elena Jayewardene.

President Rajapaksa delivers his message in a calm and collected manner. He declares what no political leader had the courage to say before: ‘One country- one law’.

These are the memories of the opening ceremony of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka that will linger for a long time.

Those who replaced the first-past-the-post electoral system with the current proportional representation system may have thought a two-thirds majority would not be within the realm of possibility. Even when the President and the Prime Minister appealed to the electorate for such a huge mandate, no political observer took them seriously, but what was widely considered impossible happened!

Sadly, for the first time ever, there was no ‘Elephant’ in the House! The political slap in the face was severe enough to upset any party or any person—even Ranil Wickremesinghe. However, no one ever thought that the UNP would not be in a position to choose a person for its National List slot, which it got thanks to the convoluted proportional representation system.

The UNP, knowing that it was heading for defeat, should have had a strategy. At least, it should have devised a plan as the election results started coming in. Immediately after the final result was out, Ranil should have summoned a press conference or issued a statement accepting the responsibility for the defeat. While apologising to his supporters, he should have announced that he would step down from the leadership as soon as the party elected a new leader. The confusion that ensued could have been easily avoided and the UNP would have earned some respect and sympathy if he had done so.

The second level leaders in the UNP should have had a discussion in private and decided who was best suited to revive the party.

Ranil, who resigned initially, still remains the party leader having assigned tasks to the young aspirants, claiming that the party could select its next leader on the basis of their performance at the next election. The UNP will do better under any other leader and why that golden opportunity was missed is beyond belief. It looks as if Ranil is determined to bury the UNP!

What about the clone? It was Udaya Gamanpila who famously said, “Just like ‘crocodile buns’ having no crocodiles there is no samagiya in the Samagi Jana Balawegaya”. This was proved correct by the way the constituent parties of the SJB fought for the national list seats, with Sajith telling journalists to find who their nominees were from the gazette!

Sajith decided to congratulate the newly elected Speaker in English. Whilst Gota, dressed in a lounge suit, spoke in Sinhala, Sajith dressed in ‘Jathika enduma’ opted for English! Many are wondering why Sajith spoke in English. Was he imitating Ranil? A cynic’s interpretation would be that because the PM spoke in Sinhala, the Leader of the Opposition decided to speak in English!

May be Sajith wanted to demonstrate that he had had an English education. After all, he attended a university in England. Perhaps, the most plausible explanation is that he chose to speak in English because of the quotations in his speech. However, one quotation he chose was totally inappropriate: “If I may quote the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. He said, ‘I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole’. This is what he uttered when he became the prime minister and I believe you have achieved much and this I believe is the climax of your political career”! Even if the Speaker has had his political moments is this the time for reminder? Perhaps, it is more of a self-reflection; Sajith had not one, but two disastrous greasy pole moments of late! If he wanted to quote Disraeli, Sajith could have done better with “The secret of success is constancy to purpose”.

SJB could not decide on a Chief Whip for the Opposition, not even by the time Parliament adjourned for the day. It was widely tipped that young academic Dr. Harsha de Silva would get the post but suddenly it was announced that Lakshman Kiriella, who just scraped through from Kandy, had been appointed to the post. Looks like Sajith has already started doing a Ranil! He seems disinclined to promote anybody who is likely to be a political threat to him!

The ‘jumbo’ is in disarray and so is the clone! The Rajapaksa juggernaut speeds on unhindered and do hope it will pave a path of prosperity, not for the family but for the country!