4 October, 2024

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Is Ranil Wickremesinghe Unelectable?

By Vishwamithra

“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.” ~ Niccolo Machiavelli                                                                                                                                            

Sri Lanka’s presidential system of government is relatively short. Hence it is rather difficult, even for a religiously accurate analyst, to discover any readable patterns or trends. Statisticians have to depend more on unobservable subjective deductions in order to ascertain any voting patterns; the presence of sizable minority voting blocs in the North, the East and the Hill Country might make it less painstaking, yet the death of a number of giant Tamil political figures makes it harder for a forecaster to determine as to which way the high winds and which way the minor rustles are blowing as far as the constituency is concerned. 

Wickremesinghe

On a national level, the macro picture has been more tractable for the analyst in that, given the existence of two major political factions, namely the traditional ‘right’ and the traditional ‘left’, are easily identifiable. Furthermore, stringent scrutiny on the part of the average voter also has been virtually non-existent. As Rohana Wijeweera in his early years in politics – in the late nineteen sixties and early seventies – pontificated, real political power was an even exchange between the Bandaranaikes and the Senanayakes. The real common man was left in the lurch; power had become an exclusive luxury owned by the ‘haves’; the ‘have-nots’ merely had to say yes or no to either party. The exchange could be predicted at the elections with precise accuracy.

Yet the ideological difference between the traditional right and the the traditional left could be told. Not only in the way the leaders and sub-leaders of each party were dressed, talked and framed and articulated their philosophy and message on platform, but more so the basic economic premise they pretended to hold. Capitalism, the basic economic doctrine attributed to the traditional right and socialism to the traditional left as a presupposition to each General Election had no unclear division.

Yet the years 1956 and 1977 could be hallmarked as defining stages of this sociopolitical dynamics. In 1956, SWRD Bandaranaike introduced into the mix of our political culture a new set of actors with a new theme of electioneering. While advocating for the Swabhasha (indigenous language – exclusively Sinhalese) movement, Bandaranaike managed to change the flow of Ceylonese political current entirely engrossed in the vernacular-educated Sinhalese men and women for whom ‘a place in the sun’ was at last found under the umbrella of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, as Bandaranaike called his coalition of locally bred politicians who hailed from the rural electorates. 

The canvas on which Bandaranaike painted his Utopian picture was broad and vast, yet he managed to enrich it with his unparalleled oratorical lines and a veneer of the national dress. Those villagers who lived in the remote corners of the country were recognized as indispensable pillars of his Pancha Maha Balavegaya (five-pronged movement). The man in a Sarong (cloth wrapped around one’s waist) found his place in the sun! At the same time he was successful in aligning his economic policies and principles along Socialism by nationalizing some key industries amongst which was transport services. This marriage between the then Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which was essentially a party that practiced its policies along feudalistic beginnings and socialist policies became an overnight propaganda success. However, he did not live to see the ill-effects of its long-term failure as a premise for economic development of a country.

These ill-effects, in fact, entailed the ouster of the Sirimavo regime in 1977. 1977, in addition to ushering in J R Jayewardene into real power, also made a historic change in our economic planning and governance of failing principles of socialism. When JR opened the economy, freed it of its outdated manacles of socialist policies and dogmatic doctrinaire approach to resolving issues that essentially characterize socialism, that resultant change also could be characterized as one change whose effects cannot be undone. However, when Sri Lanka’s economy was opened to the vagaries of the free market principles, the intrusions of the ugly side of capitalism could not be averted. 

A closed economy, which Sri Lanka was during the forgettable period of the Bandaranaike family,  all the ugly aspects of an open economy too entered at an accelerated pace into the lives of the average Appuhamy and Natarajah. At this time, the leadership of the Bandaranaikes have passed by, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga being the last of the family hegemony. The Rajapaksas who took over the helm of the traditional left had no choice but to follow on the capitalistic footsteps both JR and the last of the Bandaranaikes trod along. Consequently, the line that divided the traditional left and the traditional right became too thin to gauge. 

When one combines the Presidential System of governance with an open economy, what resulted was a highly corruptible and incorrigibly corrupt system that we have today. The evolution of the open market economy reached a decisive phase; it has sown its hideous and  grisly seeds on a soil that had already been desecrated by feudalism of yesteryear. Unchecked and unregulated to an amazingly flimsy level, the processes of open market evolution leaped from innocent-looking profit-making to nauseating heights of a super-rich political henchmen whose ambitions were very much entangled with a new class of politicians. 

When the line between the traditional right and the traditional left disappeared, the vacuum that was created as an opposing economic system had to find itself room in the midst of this corruptible political-economy. Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and his National People’s Power (NPP) jumped into this limbo. When backed by AKD’s superlative oratory, the obvious alternative for the stagnating status quo, seems to be the NPP and its untested and untried Politburo. 

It’s not only the Rajapaksas that have to answer for the successive failures of our economy. Economic punditry and academic and professional talents are not in short supply. Whatever the inhibitions that the language issue placed on our youth could be overcome as a steady flow of bright and courageous youth is expected to arrive at the open market each year. The problem does not lie in the quantity; it’s the quality of our professional, especially in the sphere of financial integrity and fiscal responsibility that need to be calibrated and fine-tuned. 

They look up to their leaders for that kind of guidance; it is, in fact, precisely that, that guidance-arena we are far behind some of our neighboring nations. Lack of accountability and transparency in our dealings in sociopolitical dynamics is being questioned by international organizations; their inquiries into the disparate transactions the successive governments and their Cabinets of Minsters have entered into have, more often than not, have met with no salutary results.

Given this context, the current crop of political leaders are, barring a handful (less than five),  have failed the test. In fact, amongst those parliamentarians, there are only three politicians the people would trust to handle the navigation of our country’s political economy. They are Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sarath Fonseka and Patali Champika Ranawaka.

Ranil Wickremesinghe may be dreaming about being elected President in the next Presidential Elections. But the ‘trust’ factor is his biggest enemy. The people don’t trust him. His latest overtures to the Tamil community by publicly talking about the implementation of the 13th Amendment to its fullest and offering concessions to the Hill Country Tamils are nothing but another way of deceiving the minorities once again. Whatever the Hill Country Tamil leadership would do is anybody’s guess; but the acute distrust the Northern Tamils have generally in the entire Sinhalese leadership knows no bounds. Having been taken for rides in the past, first by Bandaranaike in 1957 and by Dudley Senanayake in 1966, it is hard to imagine any Tamil leader with an iota of wisdom would trust any Sinhalese leader who has already enjoyed power in the last seventy five years. Ranil Wickremesinghe,  the Rajapaksas and the Premadasas belong to that category of ‘agents of distrust’.

It is beyond dispute that in order to secure victory at the next Presidential elections, assurance of the Tamil vote is a must. Only Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2010 (because it was held soon after the war victory in 2009) and Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019 (due to the dismal failure of the ‘Yahapalanaya’ government headed by Maithripala-Ranil combo) were successful in securing victory at the Presidential elections without the support of Northern Tamils. On both of those occasions, Northern Tamils voted for the opponent of the Rajapaksa brothers and they managed to secure close to sixty percent of the Sinhala vote.

If Ranil Wickremesinghe is unelectable, then who could be the winner at the next Presidential elections. There are two possibilities. They are as follows:

1) Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) candidate who is not Sajith Premadasa. The only other person in the SJB is Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka whose word the people are beginning to trust.

2) Anura Kumara Dissanayake from the NPP

It is virtually impossible to find a candidate outside the above two as none of the others would succeed in securing the trust of the people. A distant possibility is a merger between the NPP and SJB; it is highly unlikely but not impossible. 

However, the winner should not only enjoy the trust of the people, they must present to the electorate a workable manifesto that is crafted for the betterment of the economy and system of governance. Discussing the contents of such a manifesto would be the subject of many columns to be penned.

*The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com 

Latest comments

  • 5
    3

    “Is Ranil Wickremesinghe Unelectable?”


    Are you off your rocker? Escaped from Anogda? Trying to make Angoda unmanageable: a prime candidate for Ranil’s privatization drive?


    In fair elections, without jugglery/tricks …….Ranil is unelectable, even in his own party! ……. And in his own seat! ……. What chance has he got in the country?

    Ranil and elections are not meant for each other.

    Now you have seen him in action – his true colors – …….. is it any wonder why he is unelectable?

    People who never voted for him, never supported him, were much wiser than some of us, who once had faith in him!

    There are still some diehard true-believers, who are willing to wait for eternity ……… or till 2048, whichever comes first ……. for him to deliver us to the promised land ……… Bless them! Bless their faith!

    The lapsed ……… O ye, of little faith ……..

    • 6
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      continued

      It’s a toss-up, who is the bigger curse for the country; Ranil or Mahinda ….. now they have teamed up, guess, the curse has doubled!

      God, help us. ……. Time to flock to Pastor Jerome’s, if he hasn’t already caught the last boat out …….. with the loot ………


      Forget electability ……… the only non-rhetorical question ……. still left in the country ………. “When will all this end?”

  • 1
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    The men he has around him is the one elected during the controversial period.

    The tradition went to the right, when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted, he was lifted one back up to provocation after a failed attempt Of leadership. Both he and his voters are weak and each needs the other for cover-up without much effort, if they know they have done wrong, foolishly suppose they can conceal their error by defending it, and finding a justification for it

  • 2
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    “Having been taken for rides in the past, first by Bandaranaike in 1957 and by Dudley Senanayake in 1966”
    Taking someone for a ride is an intentional act.
    Can the writer claim that SWRDB and Dudley willfully acted in bad faith?
    Both faced unforeseen obstacles.

  • 5
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    “There are two possibilities. They are as follows:
    1) Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) candidate who is not Sajith Premadasa. The only other person in the SJB is Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka whose word the people are beginning to trust.
    2) Anura Kumara Dissanayake from the NPP”
    ^
    The logic baffles me.
    Why would the SJB go for the General? Is his standing there highly regarded.
    The man is still the absolute political novice that he was when he contested in 2010.

  • 8
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    “Is Ranil Wickremesinghe Unelectable?”
    Is that even a question? Of course he isn’t. But not for the reasons that his naive detractors, Vishwamitra included, put forward. The trouble is :
    1. He forgets who he is talking to. Most of our population are unimaginative owners of IQs below 70. So, talking to them about ChatGPT won’t do. Even his 2048 plan has been misunderstood as meaning that he’ll live till then.
    2. He is unable to control his temper in public. It is one thing to correct incompetent boorucrats, but doing it publicly makes unnecessary enemies. Officials are more permanent than Presidents.
    3. He doesn’t kowtow to self-important monks like the one in Mihintale. He is the only leader who managed to cut their electricity subsidies, but the general public doesn’t care.
    4. He doesn’t go around kissing babies, tell off-colour jokes or have a moustache, all attributes of successful SL politicians. What’s more, he talks a lot in English.
    5 His economics could be described as Thatcherite. But that is the fault of the populists who let the situation get out of control.
    Yes, he is unelectable. But he has the right ideas. I’ll take right ideas any time, thank you. Hang elections.

    • 12
      6

      God, OC you are a miniature Ranil ! Every morning you must be standing before a mirror admiring your manly figure-what a beautiful man the thosai and beer has produced !

      According to you the opinion of 23 million is dismissible for Ranil to decide what is best !

      At least Ranil is very advanced in shamelessness, lack of scruple and deceitful games.

      What is your strong point ? Writing endlessly to the CT under a false name ?

      • 6
        3

        DS,
        “Every morning you must be standing before a mirror admiring your manly figure-what a beautiful man the thosai and beer has produced !”
        I wondered how you know, until I remembered that night of passion after our rendezvous at the bar. I cannot fault your Titanic TTs, even though the left one is slightly longer…..

        • 1
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          OC, Narcissism Vs. Crudity

          • 6
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            OC, can I help DS to have a successful plastic surgery?

            It can be rewarding as she can earn more in future. I always love her provocative posts. I really do. She delights us CT reviewers time and time again. Another good example that our nation has produced only mentally ill people. Why so provocative?
            I know several clinics for plastic surgeries in southern Germany. My neighbors (irish) told me, they are really good surgeons. D.S. Being a doctor, she can manage her expenses well. The main thing is that we should come together and help Deepthi Desperate Silva. Plastic surgery helps to overcome mental crises.
            Is this the estranged woman who once said OC is an old man smelly oily hair ?

          • 2
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            desperate deepthi silva

            “OC, Narcissism Vs. Crudity”

            Are you comparing old codger with Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, … Mahinda, Gota, Wijeweera, Prabaharan, …. Champika, … ?

          • 2
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            DS,
            “Narcissism Vs. Crudity”
            So, you are the crude one then?🤣🤣🤣
            What do you expect when you use racist slurs like “thosai figure”, even if mis-targeted?
            I you don’t like being insulted, don’t insult those smarter than you, old girl.

        • 2
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          old codger

          “…. I cannot fault your Titanic TTs, even though the left one is slightly longer…..”

          Did you find out why?
          Were you worried?
          nimal may want to explain.

      • 5
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        desperate deepthi silva

        “What is your strong point ? Writing endlessly to the CT under a false name ?”

        What is the difference between a knife and yourself?

        • 1
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          DS,
          .
          His strong point is he is realistic.if u disagree, please prove thank 😊 u.

      • 3
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        DS,
        “Writing endlessly to the CT under a false name ?”
        So you actually are Deepthi Silva? What was your name when you were a little boy?

        • 2
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          OC,
          Why is our Bandarawella man not working hard to find Deepti Silva’s family tree? As we know he is an expert in such jobs. We should at least be clear how many X chromosomes does DS own.
          .
          He has persecuted me by not allowing me to stay in my home country for 12 days in July but how can DS be allowed to be in peace? Does DS support JVP-led NPP? Or is SM with DS blood related?

    • 4
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      Why you claim Ranil unelectable?
      I disagree!
      The 2005 presidential election was the closest in Sri Lankan history. Rajapakse won 50.29% of the vote, just 180,786 votes more than Wickramasinghe’s 48.43%.
      Ranil Wicramasinghe had contested this election after signing the Norway inspired Peae agreement with Prabaharan and in fact he was the only Sinhala teader of standing in Sri lanka to sign any agreement with LTTE .
      Yet he managed to very close to Mahinda. if LTTE had not prevented Tamils from voting in that elections Ranil would have vone and became President in 2005.
      How could anyone claim Ranil unelectable?

      • 2
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        It was won not none in my last comment

      • 3
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        Sri Krish,
        In 2005, many people thought the war couldn’t be won. Mahinda won it for them, and now anyone who thinks like Ranil is unelectable.Blame Prabhakaran.

        • 3
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          old codger

          “Blame Prabhakaran.”

          You are right, it was nimal’s poster boy VP who won the war and two elections for Mahinda.

        • 2
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          Old ,
          On Ethnic front I prefer Ranil to any other Sri lankan leaders !

          • 0
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            srikrish,
            You are welcome to ‘prefer’ Ranil or for that matter yourself for that role. However, don’t you think that you have to tell why Ranil.
            (If you would get back quoting the ‘agreement’ that you referred to earlier, I don’t intend proceeding with this interaction.)

          • 1
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            SK
            “On Ethnic front I prefer Ranil to any other Sri lankan leaders !”
            I do too. That’s why I get so much criticism from Sinhala Man.

          • 1
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            Well, I made a qualifying statement that I support Ranil only on ethnic ground, because i consider him to be beyond racial prejudice and that he is not a Sinhala Buddhist racist and any sri Lankan could expect to be treated fairly.
            Having said this I must add my strong reservations on other fronts- He is a western neo liberal followed
            And dangerous to the developing countries and further he is not a democrat I wanted him to be removed from power early

          • 1
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            He was smart and sat back smiling when his close friends were busy burning copies of Chandrika’s proposals.
            Was he any further trustworthy during the government’s talks with the LTTE?
            How easily do people forget events.

            • 2
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              “He was smart and sat back smiling when his close friends were busy burning copies of Chandrika’s proposals.”

              He was smart and sat back smiling when his close relatives and colleagues were busy stripping Weeping widows Civil Rights. Though Amir was considered UNP man in TNA and colleagues were vehemently opposing JR’s hoodlums.

              TNA MPS escorted her from the parliament.

              • 0
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                TNA MPs escorted her from the parliament!
                Really?
                Interesting, I wonder if there was no other SLFP MP in the House at the time?
                *
                So now we have ‘proof’ that AA, the brave General (தமிழரசுத் தளபதி) made no deal with the UNP.
                But Mr Thondamam let the cat out of the bag shortly after the 1983 riots to admit how he and the TNA leadership backed the UNP in 1977 and that the UNP was being ungrateful.
                *
                Did anyone say “Amir was considered UNP man in TNA”.
                That is a laugh! There was nothing like that.
                The entire TNA was with the UNP all the way up to 1977 until JRJ bared his teeth later that year.
                JRJ responded to a mild protest by AA in Parliament with “If you want peace you will have peace. If you want war you will have war”.
                *
                JRJ made monkeys of the TNA. But they still trusted him with the DDC Act (thanks to the son in law of the Father of Tamilarasu).
                There are two interesting booklets தந்தையும் மைந்தரும் (father and sons) and அண்ணன் காட்டிய வழி (the way the elder brother showed) that may be educational, to anyone willing to learn.

                • 1
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                  “Interesting, I wonder if there was no other SLFP MP in the House at the time?”

                  UNP – 140 seats
                  TULF – 18 seats
                  SLFP – 8 seats

                  Sirima Bandaranaike: “Weeping Widow” who Became World’s First Woman Prime Minister
                  Posted by Administrator on 18 April 2023, 1:11 am
                  By
                  D.B.S.Jeyaraj

                  (This Article Written in April 2015 is re-posted here without any changes to denote the 107th birth anniversary of the World’s first Woman Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike on 17th April 2023)
                  Excerpt:
                  Amirthalingam-Sivasithamparam

                  I was also present in the old Parliament by the Beira when her civic rights were deprived by Parliament and she was expelled. She was all alone as her party was boycotting proceedings. The rowdy MP’s of the UNP were raucous and boistrous as Mrs. Bandaranaike walked out. It was left to the Opposition leader Appapillai Amirthalingam and TULF president Murugesu Sivasithamparam to flank her on both sides and gallantly escort her out.

                  https://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/?p=40631

                  It is better to pull your head out of wherever it is, ….
                  Any self respecting teenager would refuse to accept his mistakes and refused to say sorry.

  • 6
    4

    “Is Ranil Wickramasinghe Unacceptable”?

    The answer: A RESOLUTE YES. The people said this to Ranil W and his party at the last election.

    Then WHO wanted him?

    The answer: RAJAPAKSE & Co. Inc.

    Why?

    The answer: There was no other alternative to seek protection for Rajapakses from being KICKED OUT of politics for life and possibly JAILED.

    • 5
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      Hello Douglas,
      .
      I became more sensible over the weekend, about current situation in my motherland.All what I got to hear was no positive. Unfortunately, I see it darker than I ever thought before.
      .
      Each force affects a country’s economy, society, health, education or any other area to an equal or greater degree. In today’s international job market, young people who leave the country come back home loosing their chances find a job. The world will not accept the growing number of south asians without necessary training qualifications. Hitherto govts have failed to provide the youth with due trainings and make them eligible for interntional job market.
      There is almost no hope. Although the IT revolution has made it possible, people due to lack o knowledge how to use it for their self-learning, they are easy prey to deceitful youtubers. Unlike in Europe, lanken purpose of YouTube broadcasts is to further inoculate people with weak minds. Local YOUtubers are more involved with spreading gossip and witchcraft and astrology for their dollar profit tricks. Those cheaters know it well that longer the people stay fools, better the harvest for political crooks. So bond between MEDIA MAFIA and POLITICAL CROOKs (RAJAPAKSHE and their hedgemonists)is inseparable entity.

      tbc

  • 5
    1

    Vishwamithra speaks of the traditional ‘right’ and the traditional ‘left’. Is he speaking of our country?
    There was a ‘left’. A long ago. So long ago, I don’t even remember.
    There is no right. There is no left. No more.
    Vishwamithra speaks of yet another. Financial integrity and fiscal responsibility.
    Laugh as much as you like, no one connects integrity or responsibility with our rascals.
    .
    For President, I long ruled out both Sarath Fonseka and Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
    If I am proved wrong, I would be happy!

  • 2
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    ranil’s electability will depend on the state the country is in when he goes for an election.That is why he is delaying all elections.The country is in a poor state, although he can say that it is not his doing anything wrong.However he is backed by those who mismanaged the country and if he is considered a puppet of theirs then he will be tarnished by the same brush as them.He say he is ranil wickremasinghe,not ranil rajapakshe.It s easy to talk but difficult to walk the talk.Nothing he has done so far has shown that he is not ranil rajapakshe but ranil wickremesinghe.The problem he has is if he becomes ranil wickremesinghe and not ranil rajapakshe he will not get nominated by the SLPP to run for president.What he should do is run for the presidency on the UNP ticket because running for it on the SLPP ticket will be a definite loss at the presidential election unless the SLPP spilts into two,one with rajapakshes and the other with wickremesinghe.Then he has a chance to become president.

  • 4
    1

    What makes SF better than SP? Didn’t SF say ‘it wasn’t me, I was following orders’? like the Nazi Generals when accused of war crimes? If that is so, doesn’t make him an ‘Officer & a Gentleman’ to be trusted. Anyway, SP, despite his international education & ‘cultured’ personality, as we are made to believe, has not made any significant contribution in his political career so far, apart from following his old man’s legacy of building Buddha statues in every street corner & increasing the monk population, as if we don’t have enough already. As for AKD, he may be a good orator but despite his highly vocal exposure of corruption of past regimes, nothing has come out of it & we have to wait until he is elected to see it through. Can we trust the leader of a past terrorist organisation, responsible for the destruction & murder of thousands of innocent civilians, who doesn’t seem to have the guts to apologise to the nation for their violent past? I think not.

    RW may be useless & lethargic, protecting crooks, from the Rajapakses & their cronies to his own cronies, Ravi K , Mahendran & Co. & certainly not my ideal choice but among this lot, I prefer RW as the best out of a bad lot. I only hope, if he is elected, he will have the balls to get rid of the deadwood & corrupt yobs & make a decent attempt to reform the country.

    • 3
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      Part 01
      Spot on Raj,
      “My only hope is that if he is elected, he will have the balls to make a good effort to get rid of the corrupt and corrupt and reform the country.”-
      I think so too.Many others will have to follow next. I am very grateful to you for your good and visionary thinking. Many more of you should be bred on CT so we can discuss these issues in depth.

      If one studies carefully how the current President went from reducing zero- or minus level foreign exchange reserves since July 9 last year to adding it today with a small cabinet, not a single sane person can attack the current caretaker government and its diehard achievements.
      RW pulls his weight even though the whole world is against him with human reptilians aimimg their arrows at him day after day.

      Now they just started paying their own loans even if it was declared by GOTA’s tyranny as ” we are a bankrupted nation”.

      That is a big slap on Anura Kumara, who has become the “modern day joker” to the nation today. His cyber army is dong a good job for thrilling them time and time again.

      tbc

      • 3
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        Part 02
        To me, AKD is dreaming of a country led by him, however, his basics lack that much, not knowing the true psyche levels of south-asian mentality.; most of all racists dominating srilanka.
        His speeches are somewhat similar to that of Wimal Weerawanse (a school drop-out but held above by mlechcha media of the island) who is the main propagandist of SLPP earlier, but all what he focuses would not be feasible, if they dont bring practical experiences with “srilanken mlechcha politics”.

        Hard achievements of current interim govt certainly benefited the people. At that time, Gotabhaya was chased out of the country, the nation was fallen in anxities not being able to pay off container ships that carried the essential daily needs to lanken harbours. My gosh, our people are real beasts not to remind it today. Opening an LC account with a zero stand in the foreign exchange account was a real helpless situation. We are foreever indebted to Indian GOVT with the CHINESE did not even listen to us. Remember?

        tbc

        • 2
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          Part 3
          In today’s context, we have no suitable candidate, in this war torn country, caught by lootings of DA Rajapakshe siblings and sons, other than RW to pick and drop all that the Rajapakshe rascals have deliberately flattened. The same is true of the coastal areas, which were then filled with debris after the powerful tsunami of December 2004.
          -.
          JVP babies are enjoying their rally crowds and rains of allegations at their rivals as their former leader late Somanwansa Amarasinghe predicted so well. It’s ridiculous that lankens to hope, it will surprise from 3% to 51% even if millenials and Z-Genzers all voted for them. Why again to run after a miracle as done being caught by GOTABAYA-fairy tales ?
          ******************************************************************
          Demographically speaking, out of a total of about 15 million voters in this country, not even 2 million ( 13%) belong to either group (youth belonging to Z-Gen and Millenials) ..
          ******************************************************************
          RW is a relatively law-abiding person who first solves things and then sees criminals hanged, which is the nation’s long-held, psychologically comforting issue. It can increase people’s contribution to the country’s productivity. Hanging them in public would be the dessert of economic gains. I believe, he will also clear the doubts about ” so called bond scam which put on his shoulder” we have been awaiting the day!.

  • 2
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    “If Ranil Wickremesinghe is unelectable, then who could be the winner at the next Presidential elections. There are two possibilities.”
    This argument looks that the author wants to come to a conclusion that both Sajith and Anura are not unelectable. So, Ranil is electable. He assumes that there is no SLPP candidate in the next presidential election and Ranil is the candidate of SLPP-UNP. In otherwords, Capitalism and Socialism comes together to protect Buddhist Sinhala Fundamentalism.

  • 1
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    Take a look at under whose administration we have been and reached today’s calamitous state.

    1948-1956 – UNP
    1956-1965 – SLFP
    1965-1970 – UNP
    1970-1977- SLFP
    1977-1994- UNP
    1994-2002 -SLFP
    2002-2004 -UNP
    2004-2015 -SLFP & JVP for 14 months
    2015-2019 -UNP
    2019-2022 – SLPP/SLFP
    2022-2023 – SLPP./SLFP/UNP

    Vishavamithra says: “….the obvious alternative for the stagnating status quo seems to be the NPP and its untested and untried Politbureau.”
    No doubt it is the “Obvious Alternative”. For good or bad (because we cannot fall below now) we are compelled to go for that “Obvious Alternative”. Let us try it. If not “HELL” with everything.

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    I just got back from a 20 day vacation in SL. and honestly I think Ranil is not only the best but the only viable solution. I can see the amount of poverty now in Sri Lanka. but to be honest most of it was only avoided by the socialist policies for this long. They gave jobs to those who did not want to work. and created fake jobs. The truth is that it is not the politicians that have dragged down our country but it is our own people. who have always voted for the free jobs and free subsidies. The only hope is to break this cycle of poverty and create a competitive economy. and the only way to do it is to get rid of everything unnecessary in the govt sector. Whether this is even a possibility is not sure to me. but if anyone can do it it will be Ranil. Weather he is electable is not clear to me. but as far as I see it it is the only viable option.

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      a14455 / August 23, 2023

      Thanks for the information. I have disagreed with your views in the past. But we some change our attitudes towards facts based info.. I returned from Sri Lanka in early July. I did not feel comfortable there because the Sinhala_ man had let the world know who I was, I had to find my own safety. Contract killers roam everywhere in that country. is public secret. Today it is done for 5000 rupees.
      .
      Only RW is tough enough to face it as a leader. That is correct. He makes no show, and no kisses little children’s cheeks and backsides as MaRa is used to do.No bo-tree licking ceremonties to target the rank-and file. He wears no SATAKAYA-AMUDUAYA or scarf or national dress to win/cheat Sinhala-Buddhist appeal. His wife is even more modest and does not assume her being the “first wife” role like the unedcuated Shiranti and Hema Premadasa did. Actually Shiranth broke the evil records of Hema as of today.

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        cont.
        .
        No extra pay, but work as a professor at a local university. Prof. Maithree travels in normal trains to Jaffna for University programs. This is not good news for the Sri Lankan press, which is controlled by the Rajapaksa mafia. However, srianka media allows charactor assasination through media… that is a lucrative business in that part of the region.. That I hate in our country of the day.
        . i HEARD it from Hirunika Premachandra, why she is forced to wear “osariya” on political stage, even if she was a young model then. It is to twist the mindset of the BUFFALOE mindset of the people. I know it very well, whenever i go back home and fall before my relatives, then they branded me as the best son….. with my parents are no more, I dont do such rituals today not even before temple living Hamuduruwos. Knowing those men wrapped like YELLOW pet do all high crimes, why should I respec tthem anymore ?

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