The young pretender continues to pull the rug from under - SP please desist

This is a political blog with personal views, which attempts to give something more to the armchair discussions taking place throughout the country everyday about the state of the Nation.

I have lately stated my views on monumental Government incompetence and their way of pulling the rug from under by the distractions of yet another series of elections, this time Provincial Councils. Similarly I have pointed out the benefits accruing to the Government of the pardon given to Sarath Fonseka, which has added to, not reduced the fractions within the parties opposing the Government. I have also illustrated the degree to which the media machinery of the Government plays a part in the misinformation campaign, which is an essential part of staying in power.

Therefore when the major opposition party the UNP tries to sort out its grass roots activism in order to attempt to play catch up with explaining to the people that they have been had, it is within this opposition that its greatest threat lies. I have pointed out in the past too, that I believe Sajith Premadasa must be shown the door due to his behavior, but due to a level of support amongst the rank and file of the party, that is able to believe in the same misinformation, they have been hidebound to make such a necessary move.

The UNP has appointed their organizers to almost all Electorates and given them tasks to perform at the grass roots to re-energize their lost support, in light of the need for change from the current direction the country is headed into. In addition they have also appointed District Organizers assist the Electorate reps to capture minority votes in those districts and include some of the communities that Electoral organizers are not able to. So the machinery is set up and grass roots work has now begun.

I have also pointed out that the Sajith Premadasa, 'Sasunata Aruna' is a purely personal campaign of publicity to draw attention to a personal and not party route to obtain popularity. The problem is that he uses the party members, being the deputy leader of the party to spread the word of his arrival for this standard 50K donation to a local place of worship. Even within the newly appointed organizers there are those who are partial to SP and those who are not. This causes a problem for the party.

It focuses on the disunity in a time it should focus on unity. One of the requests of the rank and file to go forward in their quest to form the local grass roots village level branches is to see both the leader and the deputy on one platform to give them the ammunition to tell the naysayers, some old time party stalwarts that the internal divisions of the party have been resolved. This has yet to come to fruition.

So when in a time of preparing for the three provincial council elections in September, when the Sajith faction openly challenges the leadership to win at least one Council, it is outrageous that at the same time they are internally trying to intensify the division. The latter means they are all out to destroy the chances of winning, so why openly challenge?

This is a further example of the double standards being adopted, and the reason the government is quietly confident that in a time of extreme hardship they can still pull it off, as misinformation along with opposition fractious infighting is going to hand back in a platter all the power it wants to continue their destruction. Sajith simply is a doing this country a lot of harm in continuing to drive this wedge.

He must at least temporarily suspend his divisive Sasunata Aruna campaign as it is a veiled challenge to the party leadership that he is on his own personal agenda and NOT the party’s.

The posters announcing his arrival for Sasunata Aruna donation, put up by an organizer who supports him in areas that are not part of his territory, and not informing the organizer in the area is itself is tantamount to creating division. The rank and file wonders why their local person is not involved. There is an acceptable order of doing things within a territory in an established party as otherwise the local people wonder why so and so is not on the poster or if he has been sidelined in this particular activity.

The problem with this kind of activity by Sajith, I do not know if he realizes, but someone with so many years in politics must know that he is creating division and is doing it willfully. I appeal to him at this state of the nation to desist from treachery and allow the opposition a chance of explaining their side to the people in a united stand. The need to express a democratic voice in elections is crucial to the survival of justice and freedom, that are steadily being eroded. Please put country before self.