{"id":146268,"date":"2015-06-20T01:03:13","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T19:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=146268"},"modified":"2015-06-27T00:13:37","modified_gmt":"2015-06-26T18:43:37","slug":"the-unps-desperate-dissolution-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-unps-desperate-dissolution-need\/","title":{"rendered":"The UNP\u2019s Desperate Dissolution-Need"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"Malinda<\/a>

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

The story that\u2019s being shared most in social media with respect to political developments in Sri Lanka is Health Minister and Cabinet Spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne\u2019s claim that former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a>, will not be nominated from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Senaratne, however, is not the most reliable source of information. His interests in terms of the fortunes of the SLFP, regardless of the position he holds, are dubious. Just the other day he said \u2018If Mahinda is given nominations, I will contest from the UNP (United National Party)\u2019. Here he is acting as though he is Chairperson of the UNP\u2019s \u2018Nomination Committee\u2019! Declarations from such people should be treated with caution, therefore.<\/p>\n

Delve a little deep and one finds that the \u2018sharers\u2019 of this story are mostly UNP loyalists. It follows that whether or not President Maithripala Sirisena wants Rajapaksa sidelined, the UNP certainly fears the man. Not without cause, one might add. The last word on the Rajapaksa nomination and prime ministerial aspirations is yet a mystery, with the committee appointed to deliver it hotly disputing Senaratne\u2019s claim. This of course suits the UNP and hence the cheers for Senaratne from that corner of the ring.<\/p>\n

Some might think Rajitha has an identity crisis; he\u2019s criss-crossed so much that he deserves to have a new middle name. \u2018Ronnie,\u2019 perhaps. The UNP however, does not have an identity crisis. The party knows what it is about: power, benefits for the wealthy, being cosy with separatists. Naturally, \u2018power\u2019 is the foremost priority. Nothing wrong in that.<\/p>\n

\"Rajitha<\/a>The UNP\u2019s Working Committee passed a resolution demanding that the party ask the President to dissolve Parliament. Again, in social media, this news has spurred loyalists to think \u2018dissolution\u2019 and \u2018elections\u2019 as imminent. The perception is that the President needs only to be asked and he will deliver. The perception has its roots in the belief that it was Ranil<\/span><\/a> (somehow) and not Sirisena<\/span><\/a> who was elected by the people. Sirisena deferring to Ranil on almost all counts has of course fed this misperception.<\/p>\n

But is it only power? Is it only a belief that right now with the SLFP in the throes of multiple crises that makes the UNP beat the dissolution drums? Or is it fear that the Central Bank bond fiasco<\/span><\/a> will explode in the party\u2019s face once the COPE Report comes out?<\/p>\n

The UNP\u2019s media machinery is currently in overdrive, planting stories in all media designed to push for dissolution. Part of that exercise is to rubbish the 20th Amendment. Part of it is to harp on the completion of the 100 days and reference to an election promise to dissolve at that point. \u2018It\u2019s late\u2019 is the cry. It makes sense from the party\u2019s point of view but it is unadulterated rubbish when one considers the whole gamut of election pledges and the core promise of electoral reform.<\/p>\n

Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNP have shamelessly tried to scuttle the 20th from Day One. It was something that could have been done along with the (much delayed) 19th Amendment. Then the UNP sat on the draft for weeks. Finally, when a draft came from other quarters, the UNP had to act. Now, using the willing and able partner in the crime of scuttling reform, the JVP, as well as smaller parties who have been terrorized by the \u2018threat\u2019 of obsolescence, the UNP continues its foot-dragging exercise on this all-important piece of the overall package pledged by Maithripala Sirisena.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not only a matter of \u2018striking when the iron is hot\u2019 to obtain greater numbers at a Parliamentary election. The UNP leadership has other things to worry about, especially the COPE report. If, as initial reports indicate, the high and mighty are implicated, then some gooey stuff will most definitely hit the fan. It would be tough to clean up. Wickremesinghe might live to regret the constitution of the dubious and clearly revenge-seeking FCID (Financial Crimes Investigating Division), not to put too fine a point on it.<\/p>\n

So there we have it. The UNP is not interested in good governance. Ravi Karunanayake is mimicking the Rajapaksa cut-out politics. Statesmanship and all the promises about righting the institutional arrangement have been flushed down the toilet bowl called political expediency.<\/p>\n

And for all the obvious fears that the UNP has about Mahinda Rajapaksa, he might turn out to be the party\u2019s saviour simply because the antics of his key backers might rattle the President to the point that he dissolves Parliament. No Parliament, no COPE; no COPE, no embarrassing findings; no findings, no jail-time.<\/p>\n

Ranil Wickremesinge and the UNP needs dissolution like they need to breathe. Rajitha\u2019s anxieties are comparatively mild. So too his rantings. Will the President bite, though?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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