Can Karu usher victory for UNP?

Wittingly or unwittingly Karu Jayasuriya has walked into a storm of controversy within the United National Party (UNP) where he was appointed as head of the newly carved ‘Leadership Council’ in a bid to resolve the festering internal crisis in the party.

Rather than getting down to work on the herculean task of resurrecting the UNP,  Jayasuriya now has to resolve a mutiny within with followers of the Sajith Premadasa camp calling him a traitor for accepting the position.


" With due respect to Jayasuriya, he does not have the charisma of a Chandrika Kumaratunga or a Lalith Athulathmudali that would make the party forget all their differences and unite under his banner "


Premadasa refused a position in the Council saying it was ‘packed’ with Ranil Wickremesinghe loyalists and that the Leader of the Opposition had reneged on a promise to the Buddhist clergy that the Council would allow Wickremesinghe, Jayasuriya and Premadasa three nominees each.    
 
At the time of writing, the other staunch Premadasa loyalist nominated to the Council, Thalatha Athukorale had also declined her position. Both Premadasa and Atukorale are saying that they are doing so out of respect to the Buddhist clergy who intervened to try and settle the dispute in the party.


" Hailing from Mirigama, Jayasuriya had his education at Ananda College, Colombo. He briefly served as a commissioned officer of the Sri Lanka Army from 1965 to 1972 before embarking on a business career "


There were calls for Jayasuriya to resign from the Council as well but he told the media on Tuesday that he would not do so. “People are at liberty to hold their own opinions on this appointment. The Chairmanship of the Council was given to me like all the previous posts. I did not ask for it,” he said.

Sections of the Premadasa camp are now wondering whether Jayasuriya craftily used the Premadasa-Wickremesinghe dispute to manoeuver himself into a commanding position but others dismiss this saying that this would be out of character for a man who prides himself on being a ‘gentleman’.

If UNP supporters hoped that Monday would bring to an end the long-drawn-out crisis in the largest opposition party in the country, they would be bitterly disappointed. In fact, they may now be left with three factions in the UNP: led by Wickremesinghe, Premadasa and Jayasuriya!

The last time Jayasuriya caused a similar upheaval was when he joined the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa with seventeen parliamentarians six years ago. Until then, he had been enjoying a meteoric rise in the UNP.

Hailing from Mirigama, Jayasuriya had his education at Ananda College, Colombo. He briefly served as a commissioned officer of the Sri Lanka Army from 1965 to 1972 before embarking on a business career that was quite successful. His entry to politics however was late in life.

He first caught the public eye when then President Ranasinghe Premadasa appointed him as Sri Lanka’s envoy to Germany. He was parachuted as Chairman of the UNP by none other than Ranil Wickremesinghe in 1996 at a time when that office was held by a non-politician.

But Jayasuriya was to take the plunge a year later, contesting Colombo’s municipal elections and being elected Mayor. His slogan in that campaign, ‘aavoth Karu, paayai Hiru’ lent to his popularity. Nevertheless, his next attempt, to become Western Province Chief Minister was not successful.

Jayasuriya first entered Parliament at the general elections in 2000 from the Gampaha district. At the time, Jayasuriya was content to play second fiddle to Wickremesinghe as his loyal lieutenant. In the UNP’s short lived 2001 government in which he was Minister of Power and Energy.

When Wickremesinghe ran for President in 2005, Jayasuriya was his virtual ‘running mate’ being named as Prime Minister in the event Wickremesinghe won. That did not happen and Jayasuriya was then pressurised by some sections of the party to challenge Wickremasinghe.
However, his most momentous decision came in 2007 when, even while the UNP had signed a memorandum of understanding with the ruling party, he took seventeen MPs and crossed over to the government.
There was speculation that Jayasuriya was offered the premiership in return for his defection but was later given only the Public Administration portfolio. In the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Jayasuriya was an unhappy man and returned to the UNP in 2008.

Jayasuriya retained the deputy leadership on his return, instead of being penalised for his vagrancy. This was widely seen as a tactical move by Wickremasinghe to stifle any challenges to his own leadership as Jayasuriya was still seen as being loyal to the leader.

As the UNP spent more time in the opposition, differences of opinion began to emerge between Jayasuriya and Wickremesinghe. Eventually, Jayasuriya was convinced by the Premadasa camp to contest Wickremesinghe for the party leadership in December 2011.

Jayasuriya lost badly- 72 votes to 24-and many believed his political career was over. He was indeed sidelined and maintained a low profile until pressure came from the dissidents to try and dislodge Wickremesinghe from the leadership yet again.

That has failed to materialise and Wickremesinghe-now ‘Senior Leader’ of the party- lives to fight another day. How Jayasuriya leads a Council which has a majority of Wickremesinghe loyalists-especially with Premadasa and Athukorale refusing to participate-is a moot point.

 Just as much as the Ceasefire Agreement with the terrorists is Wickremasinghe’s permanent political handicap that he has to carry, the 2007 crossover will be Jayasuriya’s. The seventeen MPs who left with him are still with the government and that is a drastic blow to the UNP.

Jayasuriya’s critics will no doubt cite this and ask how such a man could now be rewarded with the party ‘leadership’. The more relevant question would be whether Jayasuriya is the kind of leader who could usher victory for the UNP. With the party still hopelessly divided, that is a remote prospect.

With due respect to Jayasuriya, he does not have the charisma of a Chandrika Kumaratunga or a Lalith Athulathmudali that would make the party forget all their differences and unite under his banner. In fact, the factionalism in the UNP may worsen now with the Premadasa camp crying foul.

The fate of the UNP is not clear yet. It would be naïve to expect Karu Jayasuriya to single-handedly revive the party now. Nevertheless, at the ripe old age of seventy three, his political career has suddenly been given a new lease of life that he himself wouldn’t have imagined a few weeks ago.