The UNP re-invents itself- again!

 By Kassapa

In what might be a curious irony, United National Party (UNP) leader, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced last week that the party was planning to ‘restructure’ itself to cater to new voters of the ‘Gen Z’ generation. It was the same week that the party commemorated the 30th death anniversary of J. R. Jayewardene, arguably the party’s strongest leader.

We have heard the words ‘UNP’ and ‘restructure’ in the same sentence before, many times, all under Wickremesinghe’s leadership. Nevertheless, the Grand Old Party which enjoyed the longest stretch of government the country has ever seen, appears to be stuck in a political quagmire from which it is finding it difficult to extricate itself.

The UNP’s longest stretch in government ended in 1994. That was also when D. B. Wijetunge handed over the reins of party leadership to Ranil Wickremesinghe after Gamini Dissanayake was assassinated in the presidential election campaign that year. In the period since then, thirty-two years to be precise, the UNP has occasionally flattered, frequently faltered until it has now flopped and finally failed. When the party celebrated its 80th anniversary recently, it should have done so with a massive public rally. Instead, it found it difficult to fill the limited seating at ‘Siri Kotha’ in Kotte, the party headquarters.

Therefore, when one hears Ranil Wickremesinghe say that the UNP is restructuring, one does not know whether to laugh or cry. He has presided over the party’s decline over three decades until it was reduced to just a solitary seat in Parliament. Even with that single seat, fate decreed that he be given one more chance and offered the all-powerful Executive Presidency on a platter following Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s unceremonious resignation. He botched even that.

It is true that he had to work with parliamentarians from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) at the outset. However, Sri Lankan politics is replete with instances where Presidents have done what is best for the country. For instance, Wickremesinghe could have dissolved Parliament at the earliest available opportunity and worked to bring about lasting unity between the UNP and its breakaway faction, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB).

He didn’t. Instead, he preferred to work with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), ensure a safe haven for the Rajapaksas and belittle Sajith Premadasa and his party. In fact, he worked tirelessly to remove SJB stalwarts from that party and lure them into the UNP, Thalatha Atukorale and Rajitha Senaratne being two examples. Today, they are political orphans who may not make it to the next Parliament because of the UNP’s pathetic vote base.

While credit should go to Wickremesinghe for restoring a semblance of economic sanity, he could have followed that up with the restoration of law and order and pursuing the corrupt and the criminal. Had he done so, he would have had a fair chance at the presidential election. Being a master of political misjudgement, he made the wrong call and suffered the consequences for that.

During the presidential election, Wickremesinghe actively undermined Premadasa’s candidacy. In the end, he received just over half the votes that Premadasa received. Taken together, Premadasa’s and Wickremesinghe’s votes would have comfortably overhauled Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s tally.

In saying that the UNP should ‘restructure’ to meet the aspirations of the younger generation, Wickremesinghe made another observation. He said that some believe a UNP-SJB alliance will guarantee re-election but this is not the case. That is certainly true. It does not take a political genius- or Wickremesinghe- to tell us that.

Both parties now have minimal impact. The UNP has little or no grassroots network remaining. Its percentage of the vote is consistently in the single digits. It would have to make an exponential leap to secure a majority of the vote and that, for all intents and purposes is not possible, unless it teams up with the SJB.

The more pertinent question to ask is, is Wickremesinghe hinting that a UNP-SJB alliance not desirable when he says it will not automatically win the next election? For thirty years, Wickremesinghe has prioritised his leadership of the UNP over the party’s wellbeing. Now, he seems to be doing it again.

It is not that the UNP does not have a second tier waiting in the wings. Its second tier is more impressive than, for instance, that of the SLPP. However, they cannot budge an inch because Wickremesinghe stifles them at every turn.

Some of that appears to have rubbed off on the SJB as well. Premadasa, who was once seen as a sincere leader who should be given an opportunity, is quickly metamorphosing himself into a mini-Wickremesinghe in that he too only envisions An SJB with himself at the helm. Any potential rivals are quickly crushed, silenced or have responsibilities taken away from them. A second-tier leadership is discouraged. Then, just like Wickremesinghe, with every public pronouncement complete with unpronounceable words, Premadasa is also becoming more unmarketable to the electorate.

It is not that we feel sorry for Wickremesinghe. He is a political ‘has been’ now. We do not feel deeply aggrieved about the UNP either. However, the country needs a vibrant opposition to oppose this government and any government that follows. Having destroyed the UNP, Wickremesinghe appears hellbent on minimising the chances of such an opposition emerging too.

Now, there is huge political vacuum in the right-of-centre corner of Sri Lankan politics, even if the government of the National Peoples’ Power (NPP) can hardly be described as left-of-centre. In some instances, they have been more right-wing than Wickremesinghe himself was! At least with regard to the economy, they signalled left and turned right, much to the relief of many. Nevertheless, the need for an efficient, clean opposition still exists and we cannot see the UNP – or the SJB- fulfilling that role.

Ranil Wickremesinghe is certainly right when he says that the UNP must be restructured. Where he is wrong is in the way he conceptualises that restructuring. It must begin with his resignation as party leader. Nothing less than that will do.