By Kassapa
For all intents and purposes, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) is the main opposition party in the country with forty seats in Parliament, five times that of its nearest ‘rival’, the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) which has eight seats. As a result, SJB leader Sajith Premadasa has an extended term as Leader of the Opposition.
We must ask whether the SJB is performing its role well, if only because this is vital for democracy in a situation where the ruling Jathika Jana Balavegaya (JJB) has a steamroller majority in Parliament, well in excess of the two-thirds majority required to make constitutional changes, if they feel like it.
It was none other than President Anura Kumara Dissanayake himself who reminded us and his newly sworn in Cabinet of ministers that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Indeed, in the past it has. J.R. Jayewardene used it to postpone a general election. Mahinda Rajapaksa used it allow him to contest for an unprecedented third term and sack a Chief Justice. Gotabaya Rajapaksa used it to abolish the Constitutional Council, give him more powers to dissolve Parliament and allow dual citizens to become parliamentarians. With such precedents and a government that is more powerful than those headed by Jayawardene or the Rajapaksa brothers, the opposition must be performing at its best.
What we see instead is a SJB that is uncertain of its own future and in Premadasa, a leader who is so insecure about his own position in the party that he sidelines anyone who is perceived as an up-and-coming leader. The SJB’s handling of important issues also lack consistency, resulting in a loss of credibility.
Examples of this are aplenty. Consider how it dealt with the aftermath of the local government elections. After Premadasa shouted himself hoarse from election platforms during the campaign that there would be no ‘deals’ with the ‘hora pohottuwa’ (the ‘corrupt’ Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, SLPP), he did just that. Also, the SJB argued that they had a moral right to claim control of local councils, in some instances with less than twenty per cent of the vote, instead of the JJB which had polled close to fifty per cent but did not have a simple majority due to the quirks in the system of allocating seats! What resulted were a series of unholy alliances which the reputation of both the SJB and the JJB in tatters.
When the container ‘scam’ – whereby hundreds of containers were released by Customs without proper inspections- was exposed, SJB parliamentarians rushed in to accuse Western Province Governor Hanif Yusoof, citing his links to business. A committee appointed by the President has now submitted its report. While there are many irregularities cited in the report, it has been revealed that these occurred even before the JJB took office. The SJB is now silent about the allegations it levelled against Yusoof.
In another issue related to Customs, the SJB’s self-proclaimed economic Messiah, Dr. Harsha de Silva at first made loud noises about the government’s ‘inaction’ in allowing online platforms to flood our market with untaxed bulk imports, undercutting local businesses by taking undue advantage of the loopholes in the law. The government then did act, imposing levies on these items only for De Silva to cry foul again saying that this system hurt shoppers, businesses and the economy and demanding a more simplified system of taxation. If De Silva was sincere in his efforts and not merely trying to get political mileage, why couldn’t he suggest his ‘simplified’ tax system at the outset?
These are examples of the ad-hoc manner in which the SJB functions. There is no ‘shadow’ Cabinet, there is no cohesive political strategy to take on the government and the party survives by latching on to whatever crisis the JJB government finds itself in, often due its own inefficiency and incompetence. Even then, as the examples above demonstrate, consistency is not the SJB’s strong suit.
Moreover, SJB parliamentarians are worried that they shouldn’t try to rise and shine because they could then be identified as a perceived threat to Premadasa and sidelined. The likes of De Silva, Hirunika Premachandra and Thalatha Atukorale have been given this treatment before and this is what prompted Atukorale’s departure from the SJB.
Imthiaz Bakeer Markar, an asset to any political party, wrote to Premadasa soon after the party’s election defeats in 2024 and suggested some key changes to the way in which the party operates, with all members having a say instead of a ‘kitchen Cabinet’ dictating terms. Coming from a senior politician who could rival Ranil Wickremesinghe for his association with the United National Party (UNP), his recommendations were treated with a deafening silence- and no action whatsoever. Disappointed and disgusted, Bakeer Markar was too much of a gentleman to have public spat with Premadasa. He quit his post in the party and made a dignified exit from active politics instead.
Within SJB circles, there is widespread disappointment at the state of affairs in the party. Parliamentarians dare not speak out, lest they be targeted by Premadasa. Any suggestion of change is seen as a revolt against Premadasa’s authority and a challenge to his leadership. Eerily, it is reminiscent of the UNP when Ranil Wickremesinghe’s handling of the UNP was questioned but no one dared to challenge it until Karu Jayasuriya came forward. Unfortunately for the SJB, there is no one of Jayasuriya’s stature in the party brave enough to take on Premadasa and force him to reform or resign.
The avid student of politics that Premadasa is, he cannot be blind to the fact that the JJB, with just three seats in the last Parliament and three per cent of votes at the 2020 general election surpassed the SJB with 54 seats and 24 per cent of the vote in 2020. History does repeat itself and if Sajith Premadasa does not wake up from his deep political slumber this could happen again. It would be an unmitigated disaster if it is the SLPP that replaces the JJB when it is eventually defeated. That is why the SJB needs to get its act together, with or without Premadasa.
