Should UNPers sacrifice the UNP for a Common Candidate

Arguably Sri Lanka’s oldest political party remains the United National Party of which its first Prime Minister D S Senanayake left behind a legacy for its future leaders to carry forward from generation to generation.

Any UNPer can see how the once a proud party cannot even win a provincial election today. The sad state of affairs for this party solely lays upon the present UNP leader and his team who have taken the grand old party to the annals of history. It is poignant that at this present election proud UNPers stand firm to break away from the prostitution of their party and demand that as a party they remain UNP… and only UNP…why should this party need to contest alongside insignificant political parties and almost obsolete politicians who have no vote base in Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka is at an important juncture. Thirty years of conflict has been brought to a close. People can today leave their homes fearlessly. The fright that pervaded the lives of all its communities is no more. That Sri Lanka’s conflict ended alongside vast and varied development drives is something the public cannot deny. From power plants to airports, roads to bridges etc a tour of the country will depict the changes that have taken place these last 4 years – changes that are way beyond what previous Governments have done in toto…tourists are arriving so much so that the New York Times declares Sri Lanka as the best travel destination for 2010.

Things are really looking up. At such a juncture while it is good political leadership that can take Sri Lanka forward it is of great significance if the UNP can understand its place in society. By discarding all these loose cannons that are presently attached to the party for their own survival it is prudent for the country to have an equally strong Opposition…therefore the UNP needs to build up its lost stature because for Sri Lanka to function under a good checks & balance system a healthy opposition is a must.

However, by aligning itself to lost causes like the JVP, the TNA & here nor there politicians like Mangala and Hakeem…the UNP is only diminishing its status quo as well as disappointing its vote base that has stuck with the party through the losses.

In the JVP we have a movement that has only been used to revolutionary antics. It has a history that spells the need for caution. Its leaders enjoy bellowing away atop stages with no constructive solutions to any of the problems that prevails in the country – moreover its best technique has always been to upset systems through strikes.

If the UNP thought that in joining this party it could reverse its string of losses it is miscalculating the belief of its voters. When the common candidate was introduced as the alternative to Mahinda Rajapakse, it was widely circulated that with the abolition of the Executive Presidency …Fonseka would hand over power to Ranil W who would lead the country by default…as days passed we now hear conflicting arguments from Fonseka himself…first he says he would abolish the Presidency (how he will do that is never questioned by voters when he has no party and needs to obtain 2/3 majority in Parliament)…then he says he does not desire to be a “ceremonial” leader and the latest comments from this presidential candidate is that he plans to keep to himself the powers of the Defense, Finance, Education and Heath…so much for the abolition of the Presidency…the handing over power to Ranil …. And even that is now clouded with the emergence of the other Sarath who is being promoted by the JVP as the Prime Ministerial candidate if Fonseka is to win.

This Sarath is now reversing his own judgment given while he was the Chief Justice on the demerger of the North and East. The irony here is that it was the JVP that filed for the demerger and it was the former Chief Justice who gave the ruling and now both parties are in favor of a re-merging of the North & East….So by and large it looks as if the coalition alliance & common candidate are gradually distancing itself from UNP in so far as important posts are concerned & it is in all likelihood that the Mangala-JVP clan are now steering the Fonseka campaign while keeping the UNP bigwigs mesmerized into believing the Fonseka presidency will have an important place for these UNPers including Ranil.

Voters need to be looking at these developments closely in the forthcoming days especially all Green Voters for as much as they would like to believe they are voting for a ‘Green’ President…the reality is that it is not going to be the case….UNPers are presently jubilant that they have a man who could possibly defeat Mahinda Rajapakse but in their shortsightedness (for avenging all past election losses) they have forgotten that Fonseka is’ Not’a ‘Member’ of the UNP and he has no reason to if elected do any of the things that have been agreed to verbally or in writing. This should demand that common sense prevail for all UNP voters.

Unless UNP vote base opens their eyes even though their leaders are blindly following this unholy alliance ...not only are the UNP leaders likely to go into political wilderness they are likely to drag the oldest political party with it. That Mangala and JVP have ties that go far into Chandrika’s presidency is nothing new…therefore it is prudent to note that much of what comes out of Fonseka are obviously what Mangala and the JVP are feeding him and if we are surprised at any contradictory comments by Fonseka it is possibly what he really plans to do IF he comes into power.

What would the proud UNPers really have to say about the manner in which Ranil’s 2002 Government practically handed over part of Sri Lanka to the LTTE…was it not the emissary Hakeem that signed these documents on behalf of Ranil?

Has Hakeem no conscience to recall the thousands of Muslims that had been slaughtered and driven away from their homes by the LTTE. Let us excuse the 2002 Cease Fire as an error in judgment but surely after the entire country showed its displeasure and called the UNP traitors for the manner in which they gave into the LTTE, they should have learnt their lesson…why are they in agreement to signing an almost similar document with the TNA.. a party that retained credence purely on the basis of the LTTE presence but a party which has no clout today amongst the Tamil people…whatsoever. The TNA does not have any vote base…by agreeing to the TNA demands for “separatism” the UNP and Fonseka camp are completely nullifying the achievements of our armed forces. Exactly, how many of Sri Lanka’s populace wants a Separate State…post-LTTE defeat?

The Tamil people today are happy that they do not need to live in fear. The smiles on the faces of the gatherings in Jaffna, Vavuniya and other parts of the North depict people who will no longer choose to be swayed by “ethnic” “divisive” and petty political agendas. They have been given their peace finally & they do not desire a “piece” any more…all they now want to do is to improve their livelihoods, educate their children and build up their homes and environment…the TNA at a future election can never or would never dare to contest alone as none of them are likely to get elected.

Knowing this fact why are the UNP leaders allowing these TNA members not only to become a part of the common alliance but to also agree and even sign an agreement that practically spells self-determination… and a self-government? …Was this not what the LTTE was fighting for? Why does the UNP want to repeat its faux pas …if it is no repetition then we can only conclude that the UNP as a party does not think nationally and should deserve to remain unadvised but why should staunch supporters of the UNP for generations and generations suffer for the wrong decisions of their leaders? If the UNP voter agrees with what the UNP leaders are presently doing..they may as well ask why their leaders did not hand over to the LTTE the North and East in their tenure in power instead of compromising the lives of so many armed forces & leaving scores of others maimed. Do the UNP vote bases want to continue to be linked to further conspiracies that are likely to attempt to submerge Sri Lanka?

As a nation we are all in agreement that this country should not be divided on any ground – does the UNP voter agree to this? The country belongs to all of its people. There is no area that should be demarcated as “homeland” for any ethnic race. Everyone is entitled to live and work in any area they like – therefore now that the LTTE is no more, why allow an insignificant & politically defunct party like the TNA to dictate terms (when it cannot even generate votes) and even agree to sign a document for which the Eelam lobbyists overseas are celebrating as getting a step closer to their Eelam?

Then we come to the corruption element – the man who claims to usher in an uncorrupt political leadership is himself shrouded in controversy. Whatever type of corruption he has yet to clear his name. Those that came to defend him chickened out from debating his case on live tv…therefore until and unless Fonseka can clear this name from each and all of the allegations that are piling up against him which also includes nepotism how can he declare he is going to usher in an uncorrupt era for Sri Lanka? Is Fonseka not guilty of accusing his own men and steering a possible international probe on war crimes against his own troops? Did Fonseka not run the entire country into controversy resulting in the Government having to do damage control for thoughtless hearsay of what some journalist had told him though we are yet to know who this journalist is?

What of the politicians that are linked to the common candidate…are we to believe that all of them have no corrupt practice against their name while they too held ministerial portfolios during their times in power? Let us not fool ourselves. There is no country that does not have corrupt leaders. it is desirable that as a nation we ought to run systems with minimum if not zero corruption however we cannot deny that corruption prevails even in the private sector.

How many of those we know can we declare ‘Uncorrupt ‘today? Thus, only someone who has a ‘Clean Chit’ can proudly accuse another of being corrupt all other allegations are just to impress the gallery…the guilty accusing the guilty!

Lets again put things in perspective. The UNP is certainly one of Sri Lanka’s oldest parties and its pride of place should not be belittled as it is presently being done by the very leadership that is primarily to blame for the present predicament of the party. If most UNPers feel or continue to have faith in its leader it is upto them to demand that he & his close aides do not function as they presently do. For the strength of their position in the party lies upon the votes given by the UNP voters therefore…these leaders need to be told which way the UNP should go. Has the UNP fallen to such pitfalls that it needs to tag alongside wayward parties and politicians? Will it not put the UNP into complete oblivion when Mahinda Rajapakse and his Government are likely to take over post-war Sri Lanka and impress the people by the many other development programs that are fast being lined up. Soon the people will forget about the war…in its place will be Economic Development…Social Development…for the UNP to have a place in the future of Sri Lanka it needs to wake up.

It is obvious the UNP leaders are in slumber therefore it is upto the UNP vote base to wake them up by not being part of this ridiculous Common Candidate campaign that eventually will see the real architects of the Common Candidate say adieu to Ranil W and the UNP… and Green Voters will once more wonder what happened to its party…even if they may like to forget what happened to its leader.

Is this what the UNP voters want to do? Think wisely before casting one’s vote is my advice to ‘All UNP’ voters – let not their proud party see a political death.

- Asian Tribune -