UPFA Rearranging Furniture on the Titanic

Ever since the country rejected Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Election, he thought he had only one course of action; to come back to the UPFA and contest with his cohorts. His insatiable desire to be in power again is rather unacceptable after holding many a public office, he still could have had an alternative plan for a comeback. If the SLFP and UPFA seniors really were wise, they could have allowed him to contest from another party. But it was obvious until the last day of the nominations that UPFA did not have a plan.



Pushing beyond breaking Point
President Maithripala Sirisena kept saying no to Rajapaksa being given nominations. There is a fundamental aspect about pushing someone or coercing someone to do something that he/she does not principally agree to. There is a point at which the pressurizing MUST stop. If not, it can be detrimental to their own cause. At a certain point; the breaking point, the person may give in may not care anymore. The Mahinda camp obviously did not know when to stop. Probably because their survival solely depended on Mahinda’s comeback. In this process both the UPFA members and the Mahinda supporters created major cracks in the party. Not only that, in addition to the cracks on the wall, some members started to run away with the bricks. 



Shortsightedness 
If the stalwarts really cared about the progression of the party, they could have capitalized on the few major blunders which the caretaker government made but  the party seniors showed political immaturity. I foresaw this in January. When Maithripala Sirisena was elected President, the party should have embraced him and  hailed the people’s choice and become proud that one of their own became the President. But their actions were a  perfect recipe for absolute disaster. 



Fundamentals not in Place
Not having a retiring age for politicians is a real flaw in our system.  Any human being needs to retire at some point in life, including politicians. I was amazed to see people over 80 years being on the UPFA’s national list at the last elections. 

Parties must have certain principles on those who have allegations levelled against them. I question the intelligence of the SLFP hierarchy. A casual glance at some of the ministers will show that their actions while in office have been questionable. Although four such individuals have been denied nominations, there are others who have been given. The same scenario applies to the UNP camp.

It is impossible for Mahinda to show clean people in his camp.  Those who accompany him are questionable characters, and he himself admits that he protected them and did not punish them. 



THE President’s stance
Due to the decisions taken by the UPFA, the President continues to take flak from the public. I give him much credit for his patience and his stance. His last speech after the nominations clearly shows that he wants people to have faith in him. He is pledging to be neutral during the elections and assuring that even if UPFA wins, MR will only be a Member of Parliament should be taken seriously. 

I must reveal to you the inner workings of a political party. At the time of an election the General Secretary is the one who plays a major role. Even if one is the Chairman of the Party he knows that the nomination lists are signed by the General Secretary . In this scenario, I felt that the two General Secretaries of SLFP and the UPFA  were not in agreement with President Sirisena. Since January,  both the Secretaries reiterating that as long as allegations are not proven a person can be given nominations. A statement like this shows that they are not in support of good governance.

President Sirisena has stood by his promises. The country should be grateful to him for the changes he has made even amidst Opposition and lack of support from his own party.



January 8
Let’s recall what happened before the January 8.  Many parties got together to defeat MR and set up an administrative system to amend the Constitution. The UNP therefore became the caretaker government. The agreement was that after the changes were made to the Constitutions, the parties would part ways and contest at the General Elections. The need for an elected government was on the cards. Hence  Parliament was dissolved even though the 20A was only presented in Parliament. 

While the Party has the prerogative to deny nominations, SLFP and UPFA did not exercise their right.  The Party and the Alliance went dreaming with the Magician Mahinda. Circus after circus went from town to town, crowds were hoodwinked and rented, and thus, the ‘rising with Mahinda’ campaign took centre stage. 



Strengthening your Opponent
So what has the UPFA achieved in all this? They have made the UNP strong.  They have pushed the JHU which has been a strong ally of the UPFA towards the UNP. Since the MR camp is hell bent on spreading racism and hatred, parties which represent minority groups have 

flocked together with the UNP.  One month ago the UNP was not that strong. But now they are  the formidable camp.

Today we have reached a scenario where the UNP has the photos of D. S. Senanayake and  SWRD Bandaranaike at the party convention.  It appears that the UNP has taken back everything, including the founder of the SLFP.

These days I am constantly reminded of the “ Ditta Dahmma Vedaneeya Karma”. Those who divided other political parties are bound to experience the same. On the August 18 we will see if the cohorts will rise with MR or will fall with him.



No More State Resources
The UPFA members need to remember that they have no access to State’s resources which they exploited and enjoyed at the previous elections.  This time the civil society organizations are stronger than before.  So is the Elections Commissioner.  He is someone the country is proud of for being straight forward. He will ensure a free and fair election by all means.  The UPFA will have to pray for a miracle if they are to win.



Secretary Generals’ Error
There are a few errors which will cost the UPFA dearly:

1. The UPFA did not take stock of what went wrong in the Presidential Election. They did not analyze what happened nor did they make a new strategy for the general elections.

2. The tremendous uproar from the public about certain candidates who have a questionable past was ignored. Especially after the SLFP and UPFA signing the pledge about not bringing such unsavoury characters into the nomination list The party has the moral obligation to present good people to the public to vote in. They ignored this. 

3. The people gave a certain direction to the country on the January 8. The UPFA did not pay attention to it. Instead they thought that the public could be silenced like it was in the last ten years.The party hierarchy is responsible for the entire membership of their party, but this decision they have taken have not considered the best interest of the party supporters.

4. The UNP did mess up a few times in the last six months. The UPFA failed to capitalize on these because they were busy watching the circus which came to town without the clown.

5. The Secretary Generals have no idea how strong the social media are. It defeated the UPFA once. And the social media can do it again. The mass media are no longer under the control of the UPFA. Neither can they coerce the Military and the Police to do their bidding.

6. Decisions taken by the party should not be just party-based aimed at an election victory. They should be for the greater good of the entire nation. The UPFA and SLFP failed to recognize this need.



More to Learn
We are at an important juncture.  This country needs to bring wrongdoers to book. Those who have committed murder, rape, child abuse, fraud, must NEVER be allowed to go scot-free. Justice must be served. The average person no matter what their political affiliations are, expect this from the government. 

I am willing to share my knowledge and experience with the party hierarchy. While they are rearranging the furniture on this Titanic, I would like to help this sinking ship. I have a word of caution to whichever party that wins. We MUST establish a lot of principles and abide by them if the country is to move forward. Let’s not forget that among all the Presidents who pledged to reduce the powers of the Executive, President Sirisena is the only one who delivered on it. Thus it is under his governance and leadership that this country can hope for social, political and economic justice, and really prosper if the entire country acts in unison, come  August 17.