by Vishvanath
The SJB has sought to ridicule the JVP-led NPP by claiming that the latter treats its parliamentary group members like kindergarten students. It has claimed that the NPP MPs are lined up at the Madiwela housing scheme premises in the morning, bussed to the parliament, where they are made to stick to a time schedule and transported back to Madiwela in the evening. They are made to lead a regimented life as their party is all out to preserve its unity, the SJB propagandists have said, claiming that the media reports that Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara recently refused to speak to a social media influencer without obtaining permission from the NPP leadership are proof of lack of freedom of expression in the government. Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa has denied this claim, insisting that the NPP MPs are free to talk to the media. One may not be in a position to check the veracity of the aforesaid claims and counterclaims independently, but there is nothing unusual about a ruling party doing everything in its power to safeguard its unity. Even the opposition parties are very protective of their unity and cohesion. The SJB itself has come under criticism for lacking internal democracy and being kept under its leader Sajith Premadasa’s thumb.
The task of preserving a political party’s unity is no less uphill than that of governing a country owing to dissent, competing ambitions of politicians and centrifugal tendencies in power politics. There is hardly any political party that has been free from internal disputes either in this country or elsewhere. Most Sri Lankan political parties have suffered debilitating splits. Even the leftist parties have failed to be different despite their centralized leadership. The Communist Party, the Lanka Samasamaja Party, and the JVP have suffered breakaways over the decades. The same is true of the UNP, the SLFP and the SLPP.
A political party cannot rest assured that its unity will remain intact even if it secures the executive presidency and a huge parliamentary majority. President J. R. Jayewardene during his first term was free from worries about the then SLFP-led Opposition making a comeback anytime soon, but he left nothing to chance in ensuring that the UNP parliamentary group remained undivided. He obtained undated resignation letters from his MPs so that he could get rid of them at will. However, the UNP suffered a split in the early 1990s due to a clash between the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa and a group of party seniors including Lalitha Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake. The Democratic United National Front came into being as an offshoot of the UNP following the expulsion of the UNP rebel group that took on President Premadasa. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government looked rock solid with a two-thirds parliamentary majority following the 2010 general election, but a group led by no less a person than SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena broke away in 2014, and that administration collapsed the following year. The SLFP was split into two factions and the bigger one loyal to the Rajapaksa family formed the SLPP. Under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s stewardship, the SLPP obtained a two-thirds majority in the 2020 general election, but it faced a split a couple of years later. So, why the NPP is doing everything possible to perverse the unity of its parliamentary group is understandable.
Dialectical tensions have become palpable in the NPP government because the JVP and some of its coalition partners represent two different political ideologies—Socialism and Liberalism. They succeeded in making some ideological compromises and forging an alliance to adopt a workable political agenda, which helped them capture state power this year. However, the ideological differences between the two groups and the clashing ambitions of their leader are likely to come to a head with the passage of time, the way the SLFP and its leftist allies in the United Front government fell out and parted ways in the mid-1970s. Above all, the JVP itself is no stranger to internal disputes and breakaways. In April 2016, former JVP leader Somawansa Amerasinghe himself broke away and formed a new party, named the People’s Servants Party two months later. He died shortly afterwards.
The SJB’s internal problems can be considered far more serious than those of other political parties. Its leader Premadasa has come under fire for his leadership style, and one of its prominent members, former MP Lalith Ellawala resigned from the SJB a few days ago in protest against what he called the absence of internal democracy in the SJB. SJB Chairman Imtiaz Bakeer Markar has written a letter to Premadasa, stressing the need for party reforms. In a 12-point proposal, he has spelt out how the party can be revitalized in time for future elections. SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva endorsed Barkar’s call for party reforms, while he was taking part in an interview with Derana TV yesterday night (Dec. 30).
Markar’s proposals roughly rendered into English are as follows:
1. The SJB must adopt a clear ideological position and all its activists must adhere to it and speak with one voice.
2. The SJB must act in a manner befitting a main political party.
3. Decisions must be made with the concurrence of the party’s rank and file as far as possible, and the party’s internal democracy should be fostered through measures such as primary elections.
4. A programme must be launched, coupled with a methodology, to ensure upward mobility in the party via youth and student associations so as to inspire hope in the public. (This must be done so that ‘parachutists’ will not be able to go places by way of deception.)
5. Meetings of the SJB parliamentary group, party organizations, the Management Committee, and the Working Committee must be held according to schedule. (This applies to the meetings of the SJB’s Executive Council and party convention as well.)
6. Specific tasks must be assigned to the party’s District Organizations and their leaders with a mechanism put in place to review the progress of their work every three months.
7. The SJB leader, other party seniors, and the heads of associations affiliated to the party, representing the youth, women, students, trade unions, and professionals must hold progress review meetings according to a timetable.
8. The SJB must set up a unit to handle social media to streamline the party’s communication instead of outsourcing the task during election campaigns.
9. Action must be taken to ensure that the aforesaid unit functions in such a way as to propagate the party’s ideology and messages among the party members and the general public efficiently and effectively.
10. Steps must be taken to launch a scheme targeting adolescents who will be first-time voters at future elections to raise their political awareness through interactive programs like the ones conducted by the Ranjan Wijeratne Academy.
11. Eligibility criteria for the Provincial Council and Local Government candidates must be adopted with emphasis on attracting professionals, social activists such as community leaders. 25% of nominations should be reserved for women and the
12. youth. (In case of issues arising due to unsuccessful candidates in previous elections being fielded again, only 35% of them should be nominated to contest future elections.)
13. Opportunities should be provided for the party’s elected representatives and provincial leaders to meet the party leader according to a schedule.
The letter containing the above-mentioned proposals has been copied to the SJB Treasurer Dr. Harsha de Silva and the SJB National Organizer Tissa Attanayake. It can be thought to signify that the SJB has to put its own house in order before criticizing other parties for lack of internal democracy.
