by Vishvanath
The Sri Lanka Podujana Permuna (SLPP) is now facingsomething it did not bargain for when it entered into an alliance with the United National Party (UNP) in 2022 and elevated Ranil Wickremesinghe to the executive presidency. Their union doubtlessly stood both sides in good stead at the time. President Wickremesinghe, who took over the reins of government amidst a popular uprising, brought the chaotic situation under control sooner than expected, and enabled the SLPP to retain its control over the parliament. The SLPP was planning to lie low until the political maelstrom was over to make a comeback. But what saved the SLPP has apparently become its undoing.
Having failed recover lost ground at the expense of theSamagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), the UNP is busy trying to reinvigorate itself by engineering crossovers from the SLPP. Political parties are predatory by nature; they prey on one another. The UNP cannot afford to lose the upcoming presidential election, where its stakes are extremely high, and therefore it has chosen to strengthen itself by fair means or foul regardless of the parties affected by its action driven by self-interest.
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has been split into three factions, headed by former President Maithripala Sirisena, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and MP Dayasiri Jayasekera; they are supporting three different presidential candidates—Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa, President Wickremesinghe and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, respectively. The SLFP’soffshoot, the SLPP, is facing a similar predicament. It is also divided among Wickremesinghe, Premadasa and its presidential candidate to be named.
The Rajapaksa family finds itself in an unenviable position, with many of its loyalists decamping almost on a daily basis. On Sunday (July 4), National Convenor of the SLPP and former Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena, MP, switched his allegiance to President Wickremesinghe. His defection must have come as a rude shock to the SLPP leadership, for he was very close to the Rajapaksas and kept on promising to help SLPP National Organizer Namal Rajapaksa to revive the party.
Abeygunawardena has claimed that pressure from the party’s grassroots was the reason for his decision to throw in his lot with Wickremesinghe, but it is obvious that he, like all other SLPP dissidents who have hitched their wagons to Wickremesinghe, is more concerned about his re-election at the next general election than the election of Wickremesinghe as the President in September. They are aware that the SLPP will not be able to carry out an effective presidential election campaign compared to that of the UNP-led alliance in the offing.
The SLPP has said it will field its own presidential candidate, and he will be named on Wednesday (August 07). Even if it does so, it will lack the wherewithal to match the financial prowess of the UNP-led alliance in the making, and this may be one of the main concerns of the members of the SLPP parliamentary group. Sri Lankan elections are extremely expensive affairs, which cost the candidates an arm and a leg. Sitting MPs and others seeking election to the parliament usetheir involvement in presidential campaigns to further their own interests.
Trouble is far from over for the SLPP where crippling defections are concerned. Namal has accused President Wickremesinghe of having divided the SLPP. This claim is not without some truth.
The SLFP dissidents supportive of Wickremesinghe have sought to grab the party leadership in a bid to overcome resistance to their backing for President Wickremesinghe. Their efforts have plunged the party into chaos with rival factions fighting seemingly endless legal battles. The SLFP faction led by Minister de Silva, who has former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s blessings, is all out to grab the party leadership. It has sought to oust party office-bearers as part of its strategy: it moved court against the SLFP General Secretary and Sirisena loyalist, Sarathi Dushmantha, who was appointed to that post after the removal of MP Dayasiri Jayasekera. The SLFP seniors supportive of Minister de Silva have appointed MP Duminda Dissanayake as the party’s General Secretary. The SLFP now has several self-proclaimed General Secretaries.
The SLPP dissidents who have closed ranks with President Wickremesinghe are also attempting to take over the party.They are planning to oust the SLPP office-bearers loyal to the Rajapaksa family in a bid to achieve their goal. That is the only way they can obtain nominations from the SLPP to contest the next general election. Minister Kanchana Wijesekera showed his hand at a media briefing on Friday (August 02). He said SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam had to be sacked for ruining the party. He claimed that it was not SLPP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa who had decided to field an SLPP presidential candidate; he blamed Kariyawasam and others for that decision. “That decision was not taken by Party Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa. It is evident that the decision announced by the SLPP was based on a proposal by former Ambassador Udayanga Weeratunga. Such decisions are now taken without consulting the party leader,” Ada Derana quoted Wijesekera as having said.
Claiming that Kariyawasam was advancing someone else’s political agenda, Wijesekera proposed that Health Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana be appointed the SLPP General Secretary. That had to be done urgently to prevent the SLPP’s disintegration, he added. So, this is the battle plan of the pro-Wickremesinghe members of the SLPP parliamentary group.
Curiously, Wijesekera has stopped short of taking on the Rajapaksa family. He has turned on soft targets like Kariyawasam and Weeratunga, instead. Maybe he does not want to antagonize the SLPP leadership further. Namal is known to be behind the SLPP’s decision to contest the presidential election, and there is no way Kariyawasam or anyone else can do anything without the SLPP founder, Basil Rajapaksa’s blessings. Kariyawasam only carries out Basil’s decisions, and Weeratunga, whom Wijesekera has torn into, only acts as an unofficial spokesman for Basil. Weeratunga is being used to send trial balloons, disseminate propagandistic claims, issue warnings to the SLPP dissidents, and confuse the rivals of the Rajapaksa family.
SLPP dissidents including Wijesekera apparently thought, a few weeks ago, that they would be able to pressure the party leadership to support President Wickremesinghe’s presidential candidacy. That was why Wijesekera declared at the President’s campaign rally in Matara on June 30 that he was confident that the entire SLPP would throw its weight behind Wickremesinghe in the presidential race. They are now in a dilemma. The SLPP has decided to contest the presidential election and take disciplinary action against its MPs supporting any other candidate. This has caused divisions in the individual support bases of the SLPP dissidents; the SLPP is now sacking the dissidents supportive of Wickremesinghe and appointing Rajapaksa loyalists as district and electoral organizers. If Wickremesinghe fails to win the upcoming presidential election, the SLPP MPs supporting him will find themselves up a creek. They have taken a huge gamble. However, there is hardly anything that is devoid of an element of risk in power politics, which in itself is a gamble.
