SLPP rally in A’pura: Political Suicide

By Kassapa

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) launched what it called the “Jana Satana” (or “Peoples’ Struggle”) last Saturday at the historic city of Anuradhapura. Party leaders wanted it to be the sequel to “Mahinda Sulanga” in Nugegoda, a rally staged soon after Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the presidential election in 2015 which led to the birth of the SLPP and subsequent victory at the 2019 presidential election.

The SLPP had an initial setback. Its National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa was first arrested, then remanded, on allegations of bribery related to the purchase of Airbus aircraft for Sri Lankan Airlines. The SLPP claimed that the move to remand Rajapaksa was aimed at sabotaging the Anuradhapura rally. Surprisingly, the United National Party, once the SLPP’s bitter rival, also endorsed this claim with a public statement. The SLPP hit back at the government, saying Rajapaksa’s arrest will only double the crowds attending the rally.

Unfortunately for the SLPP, what a debacle the rally was! There were blunders galore, despite a decent attendance at the meeting, albeit with evidence that many of the attendees had been provided with incentives to be there and, as a result, were in high spirits.

On stage and making speeches were Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila of the Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP) and the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) respectively. These political twins were unceremoniously kicked out of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Cabinet after they opposed the constitutional amendment that would bring Basil Rajapaksa, a dual citizen, to Parliament.

Since then they have been making disparaging remarks regarding the SLPP and the Rajapaksas and had solemnly pledged that they will not engage politically with that party anymore. Weerawansa offered the pathetic excuse that SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam visited him personally and requested attendance on the grounds that Namal Rajapaksa had now been arrested and that the JNP decided to attend as a result of this request.

Then there was ‘Independent’ parliamentarian Ramanathan Archchuna also on stage. This maverick parliamentarian, a medical doctor by profession, has acquired a reputation for being an Eelamist sympathiser. In Parliament, he proudly proclaimed that (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader) ‘Prabhakaran is my God’. With the SLPP usually adopting a strong Sinhala nationalist (even racist) stance, many were baffled by the presence of Archchuna, sharing the stage with the likes of Weerawansa and Gammanpila who are infamous for trying to rouse the ghost of the Tigers for their political advantage.

Ramanathan’s speech made it only worse. He claimed that, at the last elections, the Tamil Eelamist Diaspora funded the National Peoples’ Power (NPP)’s election campaign but the ensuing NPP government was not acting according to the dictates of the Diaspora. As a result, the Diaspora will now be funding the SLPP at the next election, Archchuna claimed.

Archchuna further claimed that he will support Namal Rajapaksa at the next presidential election. Taken together this would mean that the Tamil Eelamist Diaspora would sponsor Namal Rajapaksa’s next election campaign! Now, that wouldn’t endear the SLPP to many voters of the majority Sinhala voters, would it, even if the veracity of Archchuna’s claims remains questionable?

Ever since Namal Rajapaksa’s absence at the rally became a certainty with him being placed on remand, there was speculation as to who would preside at the rally. There was talk of his wife, Limini Rajapaksa playing that role. However, her father pre-empted that, telling a popular social media outlet that this would never happen. Eventually, it was former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who presided.

However, Rajapaksa’s presence generated even more negative publicity for the SLPP. The former President, appearing frail and feeble and barely able to walk, was helped on stage with many others holding on to him for support. It was a pathetic scene to behold the leader who is still respected even by his political rivals for the role he played in giving political leadership to the war, reduced to such ignominy and indignity.

It left many feeling sympathetic towards Mahinda Rajapaksa but angry that Namal Rajapaksa should put his ageing father through such an ordeal, so he could cash in politically. The reaction on social media was not flattering for the younger Rajapaksa.

Apart from those mentioned above, cameo roles were performed in this political comedy by various attendees, most of whom were intoxicated and either did not know what they were saying or did not care to mind their words. One gentleman said, ‘If Namal has taken a bribe he should go to jail, we can’t go to jail for him’. Another said that he attended the rally but would never vote for the SLPP. There were many other such comments captured in today’s harsh spotlight of social media, which went viral and wouldn’t have helped the SLPP’s cause.  

The man who was entrusted with organising the rally was Janaka Tisakuttiarachchi. He succeeded in attracting a decent crowd into a small venue but his gains ended there. The guest list of politicians and what they had to say, completely demolished the SLPP’s credibility with contradictory statements being uttered by Gammanpila and Weerawansa on the one hand and Archchuna on the other hand.

Also conspicuous by their absence were representatives of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the parent party of the SLPP and the party from which Mahinda Rajapaksa began his political journey and assumed the Presidency, until he was forced to relinquish it to Maithripala Sirisena. SLFP stalwart Duminda Dissanayake’s home base is Anuradhapura and there may have been fears that he would steal the limelight from Tissa Kuttiarachchi, if the SLFP was invited.

The overall tone and tenor of the rally was what you would expect from one organised by Tissa Kuttiarachchi but that brings to the fore the question, does the SLPP have no other person of a higher calibre who could have undertaken this task?

Overall, the SLPP rally was no match for the rallying cry of the ‘Mahinda Sulanga’ and a comedy of errors. The few voters the party has must be confused lot right now, trying to figure out whether to believe Weerawansa or Archchuna before they even consider voting for the SLPP ever again!