Monday, December 5, 2011

What next for the UNP? Never mind the JVP!

Ranil had his day on the 29th with no interference or prevention on the part of the government, only to be upstaged by Grero changing colors the following day, to cut his pride on the good turnout at Hyde Park down to size. The day after that was the raucous Parliamentary Group meeting which caught Ranil off guard and created a lot of mistrust amongst MPs on Ranil’s bellicose non wavering stand of no compromise, resulting in a further independent group being formed.

This was further belittled in the well of the Parliament when Dilan Perera started on about the Maithri Guneratne allegations against Ranil, and it became more personal when Dilan’s credentials as to a good husband was called into question. He was on to his third marriage! So the day, 1st of December 2011 ended with no matters of state being discussed and only matters of a personal nature, having nothing to do with the affairs of state taking center stage. If this is the way all parliamentarians behave what hope have we got for the country.

Hey electors if only you knew what goes on in Parliament you will throw everyone out of parliament and elect your pet pooches to sit in parliament. So what next for the country? The COPE report is out, the disaster has not hit the electorate as they do not understand how mismanaged their state enterprises, especially Sri Lankan and Mihin are. So who is going to bat for them? The opposition has no teeth to exact revenge. Actually COPE must be chaired by an opposition MP not DEW. Be that as it may, if RW has anything left he must use the contents of the report to get back at the government and slowly explain in simple language the total wastage of state money that goes on while many good programs are starved for funds.

So back to the UNP. Matters must come to a head. RW is not on talking terms with at least half the MPs. How can a leader behave like that? He must confront his nemesis and come to better serve the people of the country who are crying for a stronger opposition. Hyde Park proved that he can still draw a crowd, much to the chagrim of his detractors.

The alternatives of Premadasa or Jayasuriya are not appealing. They are unreliable and untrustworthy. Premadasa signed his away by jumping into bed with that arch double crosser Tiran Alles. He arranged with Tiran to keep Anoma away from the protest thereby drawing the ire of the UNP who came. That forever threw out Sarath Fonseka from any close relationship with the UNP. Tiran is keeping his interests covered with his papers called Mawbima and Ceylon Today. Maharajas who are backing Sajith are also helping Tiran, into a unholy alliance.
Before the month of December is out, Tissa Attanayake must investigate Sajith’s double crossing, Mathri Guneratne’s 20point accusation against RW, organize the immediate conclusion of the case against Buddhika and Shrilal and come with a ruling either way. Only when that is done can the party have its convention, which at this rate can only happen before April 30th 2012 as per the constitution.

Though RW has time on his hands and he is in no hurry, his attitude of waiting for the government to perform one misstep at a time is not enough for the party faithful who must reorganize and regroup, and become a disciplined force to counter the power of the state. If they are disciplined and can draw the troops they can give a good fight. RW is not galvanizing the troops yet and he is too slow, believing that time is on his side, and the whole enchilada will fall into his plate.

Whither the country? With the opposition in ruins and the JVP history except being able to gather the same 100 people for a good media show, the government can do anything they want. They are merrily batting on without a care in the world, spending money they do not have by borrowing it from anyone who cares to give and printing the balance. It is the greatest show this country has seen.

The UNP must take this period of slack and slow time to gather the working troops and organize a series of workshops to update the loyal party members on what is happening in the country. These people can brief their friends and explain the position of the UNP with regard to each of these issues. This requires leadership. We must understand that the triumvirate has skeletons that make them unelectable as national figures. Sarath Fonseka should be excluded from any potential leadership position as even trying to bring him in without any political discipline into the Grand Old party is not a wise move despite the lack of any natural takers.

So we wait and wait with baited breadth! For how long must we wait for a firebrand? A real believable firebrand with a political pedigree is needed. Someone without skeletons, to be able to fluently silence the Govt. into eating crow; the daily missteps are becoming more frequent. It is becoming hourly. Then we must counter the propaganda stream that the media machine of the state has so expertly constructed to bolster their position. This must be crushed into mere nothings.

The UNP working committee must be completely constituted filling all the vacancies and a more meaningful party management role taken on by this WC to further enhance the interests of the Party over personality. The party comes first, and the need for an internal executive committee of 5 to run the daily operations of the party must be immediately formalized before a leadership battle.

We are informed to be ready for a leadership battle where KJ is the one to contest against the leader. Why Sajith, through his recently published letter wants KJ who arguably got in through back door preferences taken from others is a mystery. When a man cannot even have a decent showing in his own District, does he really believe he is the least bad of the bunch now in the list of MPs. SP instead you must put your hat in and learn to fight and not get others to fight all your battles as you have hitherto done.

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