Lone jumbo comes along

Thursday 24th June, 2021

UNP leader and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, after months of dilly-dallying, entered Parliament via the National List, yesterday. He should be thankful to his late uncle, J. R. Jayewardene, who amended the Constitution to enable defeated candidates to have themselves appointed to Parliament through the backdoor, as it were. Immediately after being sworn in, he began lambasting the government as if to the manner born. He did not say anything new in his first speech, though. He only reiterated what he had been saying on social media for the last 10 months or so. But he, in our book, put his finger on what had gone wrong with the government’s pandemic control strategy.

Of the three former Presidents around, only Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is not in the current Parliament. Time was when it was speculated that she was trying to enter Parliament after completing her second presidential term. If she had done so, we would have had, under one roof—of course, during the incumbent President’s trimonthly presence in Parliament—all the leaders responsible for what has befallen the country during the past three decades or so. One may recall that President Kumaratunga toyed with the idea of returning to Parliament as the Prime Minister, and sought to introduce a new Constitution in 2000 to achieve her goal. Her plan went pear-shaped because the UNP opposed her constitutional reform package, and literally set it on fire in Parliament.

The UNP is trying to make Ranil’s return to Parliament out to be a cometh-the-hour-cometh-the-man occurrence, but the public is not so naïve as to expect washed-up political leaders to play messianic roles in national politics. There is no way Wickremesinghe can unsettle the current regime. He was not equal to the task of keeping governments in check even when there were more than 50 UNP MPs. But he can easily be a problem for the SJB, which reduced him to a virtual political nonentity last year. So, he is very likely to try to outperform the SJB and emerge strong at the expense of it.

The UNP is hopeful that Wickremesinghe will be able to win over enough SJB MPs to secure the post of the Opposition Leader. This is a tall order. He, as the Opposition Leader could not retain the support of the UNP MPs, many of whom defected to the previous Rajapaksa government. So, it is doubtful whether he, without a single UNP MP on his side, will be able to muster enough numbers in the current Parliament to become the Opposition Leader. But, as Elvis Presley has said, ambition is a dream with a V8 engine!

The SJB has not taken potential threats from Ranil lightly. It has been unusually active during the past few weeks. The reason for its high-octane performance is obvious. Its leaders are trying to outshine their former boss. On Tuesday, the SJB MPs staged a public protest near Parliament; they travelled a short distance in trishaws, backhoes, tractors, etc., condemning the government for the fuel price hikes, which are hurting the public. Yesterday, they invaded the Well of the House, carrying as they did placards with catchy slogans. Whether they have succeeded in eclipsing Wickremesinghe or impressing the public with their protests is anybody’s guess. The SLPP MPs tried to take moral high ground, yesterday, urging their SJB counterparts to behave in Parliament without disrupting its proceedings! Among the government members were those who unleashed violence in the House during the failed October revolt in 2018; these violent elements should have been thrown behind bars for serious offences such as damaging parliament property, throwing chilli powder at the Opposition MPs, attacking the police and threatening to harm the Speaker.

Some of the SJB MPs interviewed by television channels, on their way to Parliament, yesterday, said they expected Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Wickremesinghe to kiss and make up. They are being extremely overoptimistic, but nothing can be considered impossible in politics. In January, 2015, whoever would have thought the then President Maithripala Sirisena and the Rajapaksas would ever smoke the peace pipe much less contest elections together?

Whether Ranil will succeed in clawing his way up, as expected, or whether Sajith will be able to hold him at bay, one may not know. Ranil’s return to Parliament, however, can lead to some negative developments in politics much to the detriment of the Opposition and to the benefit of the government. But it has already had a very positive effect on Parliament; it has jolted the SJB into action.