Ranil on his last lap as UNP Leader -Harin

When there is an investigation, the particular government must not get involved. That’s for the institutions to take forward 

Sri Lanka’s oldest political party, the United National Party, is going through a few changes these days. We have already seen the party headquarters in Sirikotha being given a facelift. But that’s not the real change the people wanted in the UNP.  Meanwhile, the UNP is having separate talks with both the SJB and the SLPP on working together. So what is the future of the UNP and its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe?  UNP Deputy Secretary General, Harin Fernando, a former minister, said that this was definitely Ranil’s last lap as UNP leader.  Following are excerpts of the interview :

Senior politician Harin Fernando

QOver the years, there have been calls for the UNP to be restructured. And we have seen the UNP leadership also announcing plans to restructure the party, to bring in some new faces. Recently we saw some visuals of you at the UNP headquarters giving a facelift to the building. But what is happening in the party itself? What is happening to Ranil Wickremesinghe?
The UNP is just about to embark on a groundbreaking positioning of our party. The UNP is going to be the first party to digitise the entire UNP network. It’s an end-to-end solution where Sri Lanka is going more or less on the BJP stride, in India, but it’s a newer version of an interactive way of positioning the UNP so that we attract the contribution of the younger generation.
The digital UNP strategy will enable a lot of the younger generation to be actively involved in politics, actively involved in decision-making, policy-making, etc. We are looking at the Gen Zs mostly and looking at the Gen Zs getting involved in politics. As you know, faith in politicians, faith in political parties, faith in governance have been lost, and I think it is an ideal time to understand the value of digitalisation. So it’s going to be a modern UNP.
QBut what about the party leadership? From the party leader to the deputy leader? Is Ranil Wickremesinghe going to step down?
I think he is actually going in a direction where he will be a monitor or more as an advisory role. But he wants the youth to take over the entire face of the UNP. I think it’s a gradual process. And as we all know, this conversation came up a few years back. I was also one of them who thought that Ranil Wickremesinghe had to leave. But the real value of the man came through in a crisis. At the crisis point, when everybody backed out he sailed the ship without any issues. Right now we are looking at a lot of options. It’s just not changing a leader or a face change. All in all, I think this is his (Ranil) last lap in UNP politics. I think he now realises the importance of not one face but several faces and several generations working together for policymaking in the UNP. A leader will eventually evolve, and there will be a leader who will be leading these groups. I think we have for far too long centered ourselves under one particular person. And hero-worshipped that person. I think that is not going to be the case in future. It should be a group of young people, a group of elders, a group of millennials, all of them working together and taking decisions.
QWe see negotiations taking place between the UNP and the SJB. Is there a more concerted effort now at uniting both parties?
I honestly feel that we could expect a light at the end of the tunnel out of this. And I feel that both parties look genuine at this point and I hope it is genuine. Because they have been divided for far too long. It would not help either one of us. The SJB might not even give me a new position. But that is not my priority at the moment. My priority is making sure that the parties or the like-minded people get together. Party positions are absolutely non-existent for me if you can’t come back to power and actually win your policies – win what you actually believe in for the country. So all in all, I believe that there are lots of positive signs. Our discussions are led by senior politicians Ruwan Wijewardena, Thalatha Atukorale, Sagala Ratnayake, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam and Navin Dissanayake. 
The UNP will also be part of the broader opposition alliance. So there are two negotiations taking place.
QA speech you made at a joint opposition rally drew some attention after you said Namal Rajapaksa was a “prince” and you also hailed Mahinda Rajapaksa for winning the war.  But what about the allegations against them?
I think this was taken out of context. Attracting grassroot level organisers and getting them pumped up is a different level of speaking skills, I would say. And me being one anti-Rajapaksa person going onto their stage and getting an applause, for me, is a big win. And how you do it doesn’t matter because in politics, you don’t have permanent friends or permanent enemies. I mean, it’s how you speak. To get their attention. Today, my enemy is not the Rajapaksas. It is a bigger enemy that we have. It’s a bigger issue that we foresee.  That particular meeting was organised collectively. My job was to build the stage on logistics and the crowd pulling was done by the SLPP and we had only about 15-20% in the crowd. So, what I mentioned was that he was the prince of that stage. I also noted what Mahinda Rajapaksa has done to this country which is ending the war. But the other accusations still remain. Whatever we said is still there. It is up to the current Government to investigate them.
I stand by with what I said. Public speaking, I would say is my skill and I have attracted a lot of people out of it. So, I think I did not do anything wrong there.
QSo do you stand by what you said in the past as well? If there is a UNP Government in future will it still investigate the Rajapaksa’s ?
When there is an investigation, the particular government must not get involved. That’s for the institutions to take forward. I don’t think anyone will shy away from it and say no because we are working together.
QYou are talking about a common enemy here in the NPP. But what is the NPP doing wrong that past governments have not?
I think it is common for us to ask what have you all done right and what have they done wrong? Well, what I see, number one, is what they haven’t done. They have not been innovative as such. They are just continuing whatever we did on policy with the IMF to the economy, etc. Other than that, they have not been seizing opportunities. For example Bangladesh is having a crisis. There are so many garment factories that were established in Bangladesh. We have an opportunity to seize this market again. We have an opportunity to take innovative decision-making. So decision-making is something that this government lacks. They’ve got a lot of the corporates, conglomerates around them. But it seems to me that the President is not confident in taking their advice. Or maybe those advisors are very self-centered, advisors keen to improve their own individual companies. So therefore, there is no national policy that is being formulated. They are just going with the flow.
People trusted Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s voice. Not the Government’s voice. And that is quite evident at the moment. That is why Anura Kumara Dissanayake has to come each time somebody messes up. So, the President has been micromanaging instead of looking at the bigger issues and bigger picture.
What is our foreign policy? What is our policy when it comes to exports? What is going to be our target? Tourism numbers have increased but yields have dropped. There is no global campaign. When we left we were just about to award a global campaign to one of the best companies in the world, Ogilvy. This government has not explained why they scrapped this whole campaign. 
QSo why isn’t the UNP maybe offering to work with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and advise him using the experience they have?
I know Anura Kumara used to be very close with Ranil Wickremesinghe at some point. I don’t know if Anura Kumara and Ranil speak anymore. But I wish they did for the sake of the country. I would like to see Ranil Wickremesinghe’s knowledge being passed on to future generations.
QYou were talking about the need for a visionary leader to take the country forward. Who do you think is that leader? Is the UNP looking at grooming someone? 
I feel the next election will be in three years’ time. I think, at the moment, trust me, it’s wide open for somebody innovative, somebody with a vision to come through and show his capacity, capability, and his long-term vision. Current contenders could be Sajith Premadasa. I’m not discounting that. He could be one. He has not been tested. Namal Rajapaksa has not been tested. There will be some new faces as well. But we should not prematurely name an individual. They should perform right now and prove to the people that they are the best choice.
QAnd what does the future hold for you in politics? 
I just want to do one more term. I have always been in politics in controversial situations. I have always performed. I put my hands up and I performed. I believe that the real potential of the country has not yet been realized. So as long as I can get that potential, and somebody to lead this country with that potential, I would rest easy from that day onwards. After that I would love to enjoy my time with my children.
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