{"id":110529,"date":"2013-10-16T10:31:50","date_gmt":"2013-10-16T05:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=110529"},"modified":"2020-03-04T18:30:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T13:00:08","slug":"wikileaks-unp-leadership-crisis-despite-criticism-no-clear-alternative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-unp-leadership-crisis-despite-criticism-no-clear-alternative\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: UNP Leadership Crisis &#8211; Despite Criticism, No Clear Alternative"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Despite the criticism, Wickremesinghe seems set to hang on as party leader, as there are no clear challengers to his rule at this time,&#8221;\u00a0<strong>the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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\u00a0April parliamentary election.\u00a0The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Jeffrey+J.+Lunstead&amp;x=10&amp;y=5\">Jeffrey J. Lunstead<\/a><\/span>\u00a0on May 12, 2004.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2979\" style=\"width: 324px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-is-wrong-with-ranil-did-the-unp-win-because-of-johns-charisma-or-johns-smile\/ranil-and-john-colombotelegraph\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2979\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2979\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2979\" title=\"Ranil and John colombotelegraph\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ranil-and-john-colombotelegraph.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"314\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ranil-and-john-colombotelegraph.jpeg 314w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ranil-and-john-colombotelegraph-235x300.jpg 235w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 314px) 100vw, 314px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2979\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ranil and John<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The ambassador wrote; &#8220;Long-standing UNP members have also criticized Wickremesinghe&#8217;s election strategy, though mostly in private. In a May 10 meeting with the DCM, for example, former Interior and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunga said the UNP had lost the election due in part to a lack of charisma on Wickremesinghe&#8217;s part. Amaratunga stated: &#8216;You have to at least give the impression that you are willing to die for what you stand for.&#8217; During the May 10 UNP meeting, Amaratunga related that one party member had complained to Wickremesinghe&#8217;s face that his constituents were unhappy that the former PM never smiles and they wonder why they should vote for the UNP. Amaratunga said Wickremesinghe did not respond, remaining stonefaced. In a conversation with Ambassador on April 8, former minister Milinda Moragoda remarked that Wickremesinghe &#8216;did not have the common touch.&#8217; Moragoda, who is a close adviser to Wickremesinghe, compared him unfavorably with former President J.R. Jayawardene, who ran a series of strong UNP campaigns in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. (One major exception to the mainly quiet nature of complaints about Wickremesinghe by UNP figures was former foreign minister Tyronne Fernando, who went public with his opposition to Wickremesinghe in late April. Fernando&#8217;s outburst appeared more linked with the UNP&#8217;s decision not to give him a &#8220;national list&#8221; seat in Parliament, however, than actual animus toward Wickremesinghe. Fernando has since resigned from the UNP.)&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Under the subheading &#8220;Despite criticism, no clear alternative&#8221; the ambassador wrote; &#8220;Despite the criticism, Wickremesinghe seems set to hang on as party leader, as there are no clear challengers to his rule at this time. In the May 10 conversation with the DCM noted above, for example, former minister John Amaratunga said that he had recently been in several UNP meetings at which there had been &#8216;frank discussions&#8217; as to whether Wickremesinghe should be replaced. Amaratunga said the conclusion from the meetings was that Wickremesinghe should not be forced out right away. He also said he felt that former Minister of Power and Energy Karu Jayasuriya &#8212; who some interlocutors have recommended as a possible replacement for Wickremesinghe &#8212; was &#8216;not a viable option.&#8217; Amaratunga noted that he was not impressed with Jayasuriya&#8217;s organizational and leadership abilities, for example. Party dissidents themselves, such as Premadasa and others, have also failed to name a definitive alternative to Wickremesinghe. In the meantime, in his meeting with the Ambassador, G.L. Peiris indicated that he did not think that efforts to remove Wickremesinghe would go anywhere. He added that reported tensions in the party were &#8216;much exaggerated.&#8217; (According to observers, aside from Jayasuriya, other possible replacements for Wickremesinghe include: Joseph Michael Perera, a senior UNP MP and former Speaker; K. Rambukwella, a senior MP and former minister; and Milinda Moragoda.)&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Related posts;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"Permalink to 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><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"WikiLeaks: US Skeptical About Ranil\u2019s Claim That He Has Tremendous Grassroots Support\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-us-skeptical-about-ranils-claim-that-he-has-tremendous-grassroots-support\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">WikiLeaks: US Skeptical About Ranil\u2019s Claim That He Has Tremendous Grassroots Support<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"WikiLeaks: UNP Leader Under Fire From Within His Party \u2013 2004 US Ambassador\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-unp-leader-under-fire-from-within-his-party-2004-us-ambassador\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">WikiLeaks: UNP Leader Under Fire From Within His Party \u2013 2004 US Ambassador<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"Permalink to WikiLeaks: Two Main Challenges To Ranil\u2019s Leadership \u2013 2004 US Ambassador\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-two-main-challenges-to-ranils-leadership-2004-us-ambassador\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">WikiLeaks: Two Main Challenges To Ranil\u2019s Leadership \u2013 2004 US Ambassador<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"WikiLeaks: Ranil Never Really Took People Into Confidence\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-ranil-never-really-took-people-into-confidence\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">WikiLeaks: Ranil Never Really Took People Into Confidence<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":2979,"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-110529","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 - 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