by Rajiva Wijesinha
... merits of the mass
are infinite, Father Bruno used to say
they encompass even hell, meaning of course
not to question eternal damnation (Patrick Fernando)
One of the more entertaining aspects of recent political developments is how SB has become the darling of the Middle Classes. I say this not in a spirit of criticism, indeed I recognize that in the present context every resource available has to be used to ensure a change of government. But the fact that those who a year ago held him most responsible for electoral malpractices — as Chandrika currently does in her interviews — now sing his praises is, to say the least, ironic.

And I should add too that, though some objectivity would be welcome, that approach is less reprehensible than complaints about the UNP taking people like SB on board. You hear that sort of line from those who are unwilling to accept that the UNP in its day behaved equally badly. Or else there are the slightly less myopic few who claim that, bad though the UNP was (and such tend, flying in the face of all evidence, to blame Premadasa rather than JR), Ranil had cleaned the party up.

Hearing these claims some time back, while observing the antics of Punchinilame and Ratnatilleke in Ratnapura, I asked what evidence there was for Ranil’s assertion of high standards. Like Little Jack Horner proudly pulling out a plum, I was informed that he had got rid of Wijepala Mendis.

That claim I found appalling. In the first place it was not true. It was simply that he did nothing to defend Wijepala when Chandrika had him condemned by a Special Presidential Commission, and tried to deprive him of his Civic Rights. Even though I knew very little of the man, I was moved at the time to write to Mrs. Bandaranaike, urging her to desist, since such a step would seem to justify the similar injustice perpetrated on her. She hesitated for a bit, but was then pressured to go ahead. Fortunately Wijepala was saved by the Courts. Still, hurt as he was by the failure of his party to stand by him, he crossed over and proved a particularly bitter opponent.

That he is now back with the UNP is then another irony to relish. After all it must be a mark of distinction to be the one person both Ranil and Chandrika gathered up the courage to be tough about. That to me would be ample evidence of his comparative innocuousness, even leaving aside the fact that he is clearly a much less disgusting figure than many others on either side. Alick and Anuruddha and their sons then continue to fight and shoot and go in and out of police custody. It is poor Wijepala who gets chucked out of the Cabinet when limits are enforced, just as it was Wijepala the UNP refused to stand by a few years back, with sanctimonious claims that they could not disturb the new clean image of the party.

But all this is real politik, I will be told, you cannot expect a leader who wants power to take on people who might do him harm. To me however that is precisely what makes a leader. And in this respect I should note the manner in which Gamini Dissanayake dealt decisively with those he thought were a disgrace to the party.

This came home to me when I found that only three people had opposed the proposal that Srima Dissanayake take up Gamini’s Presidential candidature. In retrospect this was the best thing that could happen to Ranil, since the compromise was that, unless she won, he would take over the leadership of the party after the election. But at the time he was deeply hurt, having come into the meeting expecting to have the mantle fall on him. Only three people however had supported him, namely Hameed and Adikari and Nanda Mathew, in my view.

The first of these had of course been one of his most solid supporters, until that is the preposterous elevation of Dinesh Dodangoda to Parliament instead of an Eastern Province Muslim. Then Nanda Mathew too had backed Ranil against Gamini in the leadership election, so his support too was to be expected. It should be noted however that he too abandoned Ranil, this a year ago, in return for Chandrika elevating him to the Cabinet.

Both these individuals had always seemed to me appalling, in their different ways, and I think Ranil was well rid of them. But in 1994 neither was recognizably awful. What was more surprising was that Adikari, who was, and who had supported Gamini in the leadership contest, should have switched to Ranil.

The reason, I was told, was that Gamini had just recently removed him from his Party Organizer post. Adikari had protested, and informed Gamini that he had supported him in the leadership election. Gamini acknowledged that, but replied that there was enough evidence against him to suggest that he should not be a standard bearer for the UNP which Gamini was determined to reform.

Had he lived, he would certainly have succeeded. Of course he had both the resources and the personality to win the right people over and keep them on his side. Ranil, who had never amassed an immense personal fortune, and who took on the leadership after Chandrika’s massive victory, had to be more cautious.

Still, one would have liked more evidence of the firmness and principle that marked his tenure as Minister of Education. And the fear now is that, assuming the UNP wins the election, he will continue cautious, both because he now thinks that is necessary to succeed and because constitutionally he has to cope with Chandrika as President.

That would be worrying, because the country now needs decisive action, based on clear principles. For that reason, and that reason alone, I hope the UNP and its allies get a reasonable majority. It would be even better if that allowed them to set up (from a position of strength rather than weakness) a National Government with the few able people left in the PA. Of course the PA will not be able to ask for more than a couple of Ministries, having turned down Ranil’s generous offer of August to accommodate a dozen of them. But that might allow him, without falling prey to blackmail or Presidential manoeuvres, to stick with a small cabinet and the principle of limited government. Without that, as the last 8 years have proved, the country will continue to decline.