Opinion

Can Anura’s logical oratory spur people’s imagination?

06 Feb 2014 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The mantle of leadership of the left-leaning Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) passed on to Anura Kumara Dissanayake last Sunday, heralding a sea change in arguably the country’s third largest political force.

Dissanayake’s accession to the leadership was somewhat overshadowed by the more sensational news of the day, the murder of business journalist Mel Gunasekara earlier that morning but the JVP leadership changing hands was no secret.

Former leader and the only surviving member of the JVP Old Guard Somawansa Amarasinghe has hinted for some time now that he would be retiring and that the party would be announcing a successor. However, there was also speculation that the new leader would be Tilvin Silva.

When it was announced that the leadership had passed on to Dissanayake, it was also stated that the decision was ‘unanimous’-as most decisions in the JVP are

said to be. If there were doubts about that, the body language at the JVP convention on Sunday suggested that the choice was indeed unanimous.

Forty five year old Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Anura Kumara Dissanayake is one of a handful of JVP stalwarts who form the public face of the party. K.D. Lalkantha, Tilvin Silva, Vijitha Herath, Sunil Handunneththi and Bimal Ratnayake are the others in this ‘second rung’ of the party.

An old boy of the Thambuttegama Central College, Dissanayake is a Physical Science graduate of the Kelaniya University but he lists himself as being “engaged full time with the politics of the JVP” in his parliamentary profile.

The Sri Lankan public will recall Dissanayake mostly as a down to earth, no-nonsense politician who is blunt in his political assessments but also as someone who is not fond of theatrical politics for which the likes of Wimal Weerawansa are famous.

Dissanayake is not a fiery orator but more the sedate, incisive and sarcastic type and he is appreciated on both sides of Parliament for his contributions which are often probing and relevant but devoid of vulgar rhetoric and malicious invective.

The JVP did wield that power quite sensibly, supporting the war effort of the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and President Mahinda Rajapaksa when the other major opposition party, the United National Party (UNP) was ridiculing the military offensive.

Since then, the JVP has been through a series of convulsions that has threatened its support base significantly. The first was the departure of the JVP’s ace public speaker, the irrepressible Wimal Weerawansa who was a young man in a hurry who was frustrated with the JVP’s slow pace.

Fonseka lost the election but in the process raised his profile to the status of a national politician. His subsequent incarceration ensured that his personal popularity among a section of anti-government voters remained high-and this came at considerable cost to the JVP vote base.

Weerawansa was not to be the only defector. In 2012, another JVPer, Premakumar Gunaratnam, broke away from the mainstream JVP following differences with Somawansa Amarasinghe. The breakaway faction formed the ‘Frontline Socialist party’ which is yet to make a great impact.

None of these events have been a death blow to the JVP. Nevertheless, each of them have eroded their support and for a party which at the zenith of its popularity commanded about ten per cent of the vote, it is a luxury the party can ill-afford.

It has also not been able to capitalise on the dismal performances of the UNP. That party’s relentless infighting has seen its support dwindle to an all-time low but instead of those anti-government votes accruing to the JVP, most of them seem to be adding on to the UPFA!

Dissanayake’s assumption of the party leadership however had one lesson for the UNP; that was the transition of power was virtually seamless. There were no backroom deals and public bickering through media outlets; a simple, straightforward announcement sealed the issue.

Dissanayake’s task though is not an easy one. He has to rejuvenate a party that the majority of the general public sees as a remnant of the monster that was responsible for two insurrections in the South of the country that cost the lives of thousands of youth.

He also has to contend with a government that is all powerful because of the executive powers concentrated in the President, a lingering popularity due to winning the war and a weak-kneed UNP that seems impotent to take the fight to ruling party.

The JVP does not change leaders in a hurry. It does so every few decades. Rohana Wijeweera led the party for twenty four years, Amerasinghe for twenty. If Anura

Kumara Dissanayake realises that he is in the job for the long haul, he might well be able to make the JVP a force to reckon with again.

Opinion

Can Anura’s logical oratory spur people’s imagination?

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