{"id":109468,"date":"2013-10-10T02:27:18","date_gmt":"2013-10-09T20:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=109468"},"modified":"2013-10-15T21:20:01","modified_gmt":"2013-10-15T15:50:01","slug":"wikileaks-us-skeptical-about-ranils-claim-that-he-has-tremendous-grassroots-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-us-skeptical-about-ranils-claim-that-he-has-tremendous-grassroots-support\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: US Skeptical About Ranil&#8217;s Claim That He Has Tremendous Grassroots Support"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;In a November 22 meeting with the Ambassador, Wickremesinghe cited &#8216;tremendous grassroots pressure&#8217; as preventing him from giving up the party leadership (Ref A). We are a little skeptical of this claim.&#8221; the US<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-us-skeptical-about-ranils-claim-that-he-has-tremendous-grassroots-support\/ranil-4\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-109598\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-109598\" title=\"Ranil\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Ranil.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"393\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Ranil.jpg 655w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Ranil-204x300.jpg 204w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 393px) 100vw, 393px\" \/><\/a>The\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\">Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span>\u00a0found the related leaked cable from the\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/category\/wikileaks\/\">WikiLeaks<\/a><\/span>\u00a0database. The cable is classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d and discuses the UNP\u2019s internal crisis after the 2005 Presidential elections.\u00a0The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Jeffrey+J.+Lunstead&amp;x=10&amp;y=5\">Jeffrey J. Lunstead<\/a><\/span>\u00a0on December 25, 2005.<\/p>\n<p>The ambassador wrote; &#8220;With so many electoral defeats at his feet, we expect the pressure among UNP organizers in the field, who have worked so long for so little reward, may be pulling in the opposite direction. That said, Wickremesinghe has displayed remarkable staying power and may well be able to navigate his way clear of this latest rough spot. Just as in the rival SLFP, family matters in the UNP, and the conservative party faithful may be reluctant to buck Wickremesinghe, the anointed heir to the legacy of the late great UNP president J.R. Jayawardene (his maternal uncle). Another point in Wickremesinghe&#8217;s favor: Karu Jayasuriya, the only likely immediate rival for the leadership, although a genial and well-respected politician, seems to lack the wiliness and competitive drive needed to rally the malcontented MPs behind him. Even if the rebel MPs do manage to bring their proposal before the party&#8217;s parliamentary committee&#8211;and that is a very big if&#8211;we doubt they will be able to muster enough support to keep Ranil from running again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Related stories to this cable;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"WikiLeaks: Ranil Is A Perennial Loser As Well As A Perennial Survivor \u2013 US\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-ranil-is-a-perennial-loser-as-well-as-a-perennial-survivor-us\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">WikiLeaks: Ranil Is A Perennial Loser As Well As A Perennial Survivor \u2013 US<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>We give below the relevant part of the cable;<\/p>\n<pre>--------\r\nCOMMENT\r\n-------- \r\n\r\n\u00b67.  (C)  In a November 22 meeting with the Ambassador,\r\nWickremesinghe cited \"tremendous grassroots pressure\" as\r\npreventing him from giving up the party leadership (Ref A).\r\nWe are a little skeptical of this claim.  With so many\r\nelectoral defeats at his feet, we expect the pressure among\r\nUNP organizers in the field, who have worked so long for so\r\nlittle reward, may be pulling in the opposite direction.\r\nThat said, Wickremesinghe has displayed remarkable staying\r\npower and may well be able to navigate his way clear of this\r\nlatest rough spot.  Just as in the rival SLFP, family matters\r\nin the UNP, and the conservative party faithful may be\r\nreluctant to buck Wickremesinghe, the anointed heir to the\r\nlegacy of the late great UNP president J.R. Jayawardene (his\r\nmaternal uncle).  Another point in Wickremesinghe's favor:\r\nKaru Jayasuriya, the only likely immediate rival for the\r\nleadership, although a genial and well-respected politician,\r\nseems to lack the wiliness and competitive drive needed to\r\nrally the malcontented MPs behind him.  Even if the rebel MPs\r\ndo manage to bring their proposal before the party's\r\nparliamentary committee--and that is a very big if--we doubt\r\nthey will be able to muster enough support to keep Ranil from\r\nrunning again.\r\nLUNSTEAD<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":109598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,6969,2375,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-popular-stories","category-stories","category-wikileaks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WikiLeaks: US Skeptical About Ranil&#039;s Claim That He Has Tremendous Grassroots Support - 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