{"id":129519,"date":"2014-08-28T02:29:31","date_gmt":"2014-08-27T20:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=129519"},"modified":"2014-09-04T17:14:22","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T11:44:22","slug":"sajiths-moves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sajiths-moves\/","title":{"rendered":"Sajith\u2019s Move(s)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

The faith of South Asian people in dynastic rule is astounding considering all the braggadocio about democratic traditions.\u00a0 There have been the odd \u2018outsider\u2019 of course but by and large the political stories of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and as of late the Maldives have been about fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, brothers and sisters.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a two generation thing either, for there are grandparents and grandchildren as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just head of state we are talking about. Dynastic aspiration is something prevalent across the board and at all levels. We see it in local government bodies, provincial elections and even within political parties. It can\u2019t be the political fascination of the powerful or those who crave power. Sure, they tend to have lots of money or draw from moneyed backers and this helps secure votes, but that\u2019s exactly the point \u2013 unlike monarchies where there\u2019s no-sweat succession, here you have to be voted in. Well, it looks like the general public is not averse to dynasty.<\/p>\n

\"Sajith<\/a>What this has produced, naturally, is for the progeny of politicians to operate as though they are endowed with some kind of \u2018gene right\u2019 to power.\u00a0 The legitimacy or at least the logic of Sajith Premadasa<\/span><\/a>\u2019s political ambitions can perhaps be explained by the obvious \u2018genetic edge\u2019 and an electorate that is confused about monarchy and democracy.\u00a0 What is important is for Sajith, the United National Party and the nation as a whole to check if the prince-in-waiting has king-credentials on non-genetic counts.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been in Parliament for 14 years. That\u2019s long, after all Chandrika Kumaratunga<\/span><\/a> became President with just a fraction of that \u2018experience\u2019. He left the comfort zone of his father\u2019s electorate and built a base far away in Hambantota. He has decent crowd-puller credentials.\u00a0 He is accepted either as the Best Bet or as the Next-Best-Thing of the party by the majority in the UNP.\u00a0 Part of it is of course \u2018default\u2019 on account of real or perceived incompetency and authoritarian tendencies of the leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Still, Sajith seems the best pick as of now even if gene-right and default-clause are discounted.\u00a0 Is it enough, though?<\/p>\n

Sajith\u2019s political record has a less than attractive underside though.\u00a0 He wanted to oust his leader.\u00a0 He once said that the only person who can unite the party was Karu Jayasuriya<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 When the party leader agreed to set up a leadership council, Sajith opposed the move. Today, it is reported that he is willing to be No 2 to Wickremesinghe provided that the Leadership Council be abolished. He would support Wickremesinghe in a presidential campaign and this would certainly boost the UNP\u2019s chances. However, all things considered, it won\u2019t be enough to defeat Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Sajith would want Ranil to be the candidate of a common opposition, contesting under the elephant symbol.\u00a0 That\u2019s a recipe for keeping out other sections of the opposition, effectively strengthening the incumbent. It doesn\u2019t take much to figure out that No 2 can make a bid to be No 1 should No 1 lose out on yet another presidential bid. It would be a win-win situation.\u00a0 One thing is clear in this history: inconsistency.\u00a0 It makes him just another ordinary politician.<\/p>\n

There is another problem. Sajith doesn\u2019t seem to understand the meaning of gratitude. The man he wants to oust, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was one of the few who supporter his father Ranasinghe Premadasa during the dark days of the impeachment motion of 1991. Karu Jayasuriya was similarly a staunch supporter of his father. In politics there are no permanent friends or enemies, this is known. Nevertheless Sajith\u2019s machinations at various times against Wickremesinghe and Jayasuriya have been crude and motivated by greed.<\/p>\n

As of now, gene-right notwithstanding, Sajith Premadasa\u2019s politics can be described as one of taking IOUs from the rich to dole out money to the poor.\u00a0 If he ever comes to power there will be many waiting in line to cash these checks.<\/p>\n

There is nothing to say that he won\u2019t change, become better and acquire some statesmanlike qualities of course.\u00a0 Then again, he\u2019s close to 50 now and no longer \u2018young\u2019.\u00a0 Maturity ought to have made an appearance by now.\u00a0 As of now, therefore, his moves can only be read as outcomes of other people\u2019s plans, designed for their benefit and not necessarily Sajith\u2019s or the UNP\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Genes count in South Asia, yes. Not all, though. And not all the time. \u00a0Sajith Premadasa looks like one not destined to live up to genetic potential.\u00a0 Unless of course he becomes consistent, obtains a better understanding of himself and learns that although gratitude might not add up to much, it can tip the scales in his favor. Time will tell.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":105560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nSajith\u2019s Move(s) - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sajiths-moves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sajith\u2019s Move(s) - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sajiths-moves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-27T20:59:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-04T11:44:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"130\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sajiths-moves\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sajiths-moves\/\",\"name\":\"Sajith\u2019s Move(s) - 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