Once upon a time, Ravi Karuanayake was the blue-eyed boy of the United National Party (UNP).
By Kassapa
As a young man in his twenties, Karunanayake entered politics under the watchful eyes of Lalith Athulathmudali. It was not the best of times for Athulathmudali. He was being targeted by Ranasinghe Premadasa who had just assumed office as President. Tumultuous times lay ahead.
To his credit, when Athulathmudali left Premadasa and the UNP and formed the Democratic United National Front (DUNF), Karunanayake went with his mentor. Years later, with Athulathmudali and Premadasa both assassinated and following a dispute with Ms. Srimani Athulathmudali, Karunanayake was back in the UNP where, by that time, Ranil Wickremesinghe had become leader.
In the short lived UNP-led government from late 2001 to early 2004, Karunanayake was Minister of Trade with Chandrika Kumaratunga as President and Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister. Becoming a Cabinet minister at the age of thirty-eight and holding the same portfolio that J.R. Jayewardene entrusted Athulathmudali with, Karunanayake was seen and spoken of as a potential future leader of the UNP. Sajith Premadasa was not appointed to the cabinet at that time.
Karunanayake did nothing spectacular with his Trade portfolio and with that government being cut short by Kumaratunga, he had to revert to the opposition benches. Obviously aspiring for the leadership of the UNP in the future, he sided firmly with Wickremesinghe when discontent against the UNP leader was growing.
This culminated in a leadership contest in the UNP. Wickremesinghe beat Karu Jayasuriya to retain the leadership and Karunanayake was beaten by Sajith Premadasa for the post of deputy leader (52 votes to 44 votes). Later, in a bid to appease Karunanayake, he was appointed ‘Assistant Leader’ by Wickremesinghe.
It was when the UNP-led coalition formed the ‘yahapaalanaya’ government headed by Maithripala Sirisena that Karunanayake was rewarded by Wickremesinghe was rewarded for his loyalty: he was given the plum Finance portfolio. Premadasa was handed Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs.
As it turned out, it was a poisoned chalice for Karunanayake. On the one hand, he was voted ‘the most outstanding Finance Minister in the Asia Pacific’ by The Banker magazine. On the other hand, the Central Bank bond scam erupted under his watch, shattering whatever promise that government had of eliminating corruption and ushering in good governance.
As inquiries into the bond scam gathered momentum, there was pressure on Karunanayake to resign. Wickremesinghe did what he does best, deflecting the issue hoping it will be defused: he moved Karunanayake from the Finance portfolio to the equally prestigious Foreign Affairs portfolio, similar to what he did for Keheliya Rambukwella last year when he was embroiled in a similar controversy!
The bond scam saga reached farcical proportions when Karunanayake was summoned before a Presidential Commission of Inquiry. Karunanayake was to claim that he lived in a penthouse rented for well over a million rupees a month but had no idea who his landlord was. As the probe progressed he had to quit his ministerial job.
Karunanayake’s role in the bond scam remains a controversy. He is yet to be found guilty by a court of law. In fact, a court has acquitted him of some of the charges against him. Nevertheless, his credibility took a massive hit in the court of public opinion and he appears to have never recovered.
In the UNP, Wickremesinghe attempted to sweep the scandal under the carpet by appointing a committee headed by Tilak Marapana. It ruled that Karunanayake should be stripped of his ‘Assistant Leader’ post. Many thought that would be a major setback for the disgraced Finance Minister but he remained within the party and clawed himself back into prominence when Premadasa took a bulk of the party with him to form the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) in 2020.
Karunanayake’s latest shenanigans are typical of the machinations of the man. As a first step, he offered the New Democratic Front (NDF), a nominal party he controlled, as the party where both UNP and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) politicians could contest together. Then, instead of contesting from the Colombo district at the general election, he put his name on the NDF National List at the eleventh hour.
The final step was getting NDF Secretary Shyamila Perera to forward his name to the Elections Commission (EC) unbeknownst to others in the NDF. Needless to say, it was deception of the worst order. His colleagues in the NDF are furious. Wickremesinghe meanwhile has again appointed yet another committee and flown to India. Now, instead of filling two National List seats, the NDF has to make do with only one.
This action encapsulates Karunanayake’s entire political life. For him, the end justifies the means. He does not care that his reputation is in tatters, now even within his own party. He must believe that, just as much as he emerged after the Central Bank bond scam, he will emerge from this fiasco too and that the people will forget and then, forgive.
That is also the politically fatal mistake that Ravi Karunanayake is making. The unscrupulous politician that he, he has failed to realise that the vast majority of the country has rallied around a political movement that is untested and entrusted the nation’s affairs to them, not because they are certain that the Jathika Jana Balavegaya (JJB) will deliver what they promised but because they are sick and tired of corrupt politicians taking the people for granted and using and abusing them while they themselves live in the lap of luxury without any consequences for their misdeeds.
The country is in a stage where politicians are being evaluated against their past records. Voters are able to see beyond the empty promises and the racy rhetoric. They can spot a rascal when they see one. That is why most of them- with the exception of a few- were banished from politics by voters on November 14.
Ravi Karunanayake knew this would be his fate too. That is why he did not contest the election. He may think that he has won round one in the battle for political survival, but by antagonising his own party, he has done the exact opposite. The time has come to write his political obituary. His National List escapade must be the final nail in his political coffin.
