A momentous day in the UNP story dawns and a defining moment awaits us

The day of reckoning has come and the rogues appear to have been hard at work in hatching the plot at toppling a leader, who has been totally ineffective, but who cannot be termed a rogue. It is easy for rogues to make promises, which have been made to get the votes of the doubting thomases in the UNP working committee. There is no value in a promise that is not kept! It now coming to light that KJ owes his own political survival to the man he is trying to get rid of by invoking the requests of various dubious groups. After all he had lost his right to a seat in Gampaha and RW had to intervene personally with Basil to have preferences transferred to KJ’s name. In that event it was poor Sarathchandra Rajakaruna who lost out, and the latter died a broken and disappointed man soon afterwards.

It must also be remembered when KJ returned empty handed, disgusted at the behavior of the Rakapakse regime, and RW invited and accepted him graciously back into the party and later to the Deputy Leader’s post, when there were so many more eligible and long-serving candidates. This was because he valued KJ’s experience and ability. When a person who his supporters claim to be a ‘thorough gentleman’ does this sort of back stabbing, then the supporters’ credentials themselves are called into question, as just being opportunists for personal gain and not of the country’s future. Into that well falls most of KJ supporters.

It is interesting that KJ has been canvassing home to home of the members of the working committee hoping to sway their vote. RW has not, assuming that loyalty of his supporters can be relied on despite the undue pressure placed on them.

Both camps approach the election with confidence. It is inevitable that only one wins. It is important that the loser lets bygones be bygones and accepts defeat graciously supporting the winner, and if he does not feel fit to actively campaign for him, then he can disappear into semi retirement, following other pursuits.

I trust the vote will not be deferred to another day, but held in a few hours so that we can get on with our lives of re-building the party to its previous glory. The problem is that if KJ wins, his credibility in the country as a whole is unknown, his association with SP will come into the fore. SP sadly is not without flaws, and as they outweigh his qualities, it is going to be electorally more problematic in being an antidote to the Regime. Coming from the same district, as the Rajas of Ruhuna, is clearly more than a distinct disadvantage. It will only become clear to everyone once the implementation of this plan commences, how misguided they were, by which time it will be too late for regrets.