SJB’s dilemma

Saturday 6th August 2022

President Ranil Wickremesinghe and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa were scheduled to meet yesterday for talks on an all-party government. The SJB is in a dilemma. It is faced with the prospect of losing more MPs to the UNP, which is emerging stronger unexpectedly. Some SJB MPs have already broken ranks, and speculation is rife that several others are likely to follow suit soon. This is a worrisome proposition for the SJB, which is divided on the proposed power sharing arrangement, which some of its MPs are openly speaking in favour of.

The SJB contemptuously rejected the idea of a unity government when it was first mooted following the appointment of Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister in May. It continued to demand a snap general election, insisting that it would not wield power without a popular mandate. It seems to have softened its stand if its willingness to talk with the President on the proposed unity government is any indication.

Premadasa has reportedly said he will quit politics if undue influence is exerted on his MPs to join the all-party government to be formed. It is doubtful whether the SJB MPs who are being wooed by the UNP will give a tinker’s cuss about such threats of political self-harm, as it were; they will defect if they are convinced that they can further their interests by returning to the UNP’s fold. After all, most of the SJB MPs are ex-UNPers.

Premadasa is in the current predicament thanks to his indecisiveness. He must be regretting his refusal to accept the offer of premiership following the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister, in May. He made a volte face when President Rajapaksa moved to appoint Wickremesinghe the PM, but he missed the bus.

President Wickremesinghe has said he will revive the UNP. So, he will have to shore up the UNP support base and vote bank; he will go all out to win over the UNPers who joined the SJB. Some members of the SLFP and the SLPP are also likely to join the UNP if the President succeeds in living up to the people’s expectations and revitalising his party.

Wickremesinghe has been a victim of crossovers. He had a significant number of his MPs joining the UPFA government, in 2005, following the election of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the President. Some of his MPs also crossed over in 2010, when President Rajapaksa was re-elected.

Wickremesinghe has also used crossovers to bring down governments. The Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga government fell in 2001 because about 16 of her MPs joined the UNP, and among them was her trusted lieutenant S. B. Dissanayake, who was the General Secretary of the SLFP at the time. The second Mahinda Rajapaksa government (2010-2015) looked rock-solid with a two-thirds majority in Parliament; the UNP was extremely weak due to crossovers and internal disputes, but Wickremesinghe sprang a huge surprise by causing a rift in the Rajapaksa administration. SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena defected together with more than a dozen UPFA MPs, and defeated Rajapaksa in the presidential race. Thus, it may be seen that Wickremesinghe is a veteran in the game of crossovers, and the SJB’s fears are not unfounded.

Perhaps, SJB Leader Premadasa could learn from former President Sirisena how to prevent a possible disintegration of his party. Sirisena blundered by antagonising a section of the SLFP, which he took over after securing the presidency in 2015. His hostility led to a split in the SLFP and the birth of the SLPP, but thereafter he acted tactfully. He joined forces with the Rajapaksas to prevent many other SLFPers from crossing over to the SLPP to contest the last general election (2020). He knew he would be left with only two or three parliamentary seats if he did not do so. He made a virtue of necessity by making the SLFP part of the SLPP coalition. He ran with the Rajapaksas and hunted with the Opposition. He might do so again as regards the proposed all-party government, for some of his MPs are likely to join it. Premadasa is apparently left with no alternative but to do a Sirisena.