{"id":196248,"date":"2018-11-25T00:01:34","date_gmt":"2018-11-24T18:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=196248"},"modified":"2018-11-27T03:26:22","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T21:56:22","slug":"reinstatement-of-ranil-a-key-component-of-restoring-democracy-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/reinstatement-of-ranil-a-key-component-of-restoring-democracy-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Reinstatement Of Ranil: A Key Component Of Restoring Democracy In Sri Lanka\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Rasika+Jayakody\">Rasika Jayakody<\/a> \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_192187\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-192187\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-192187\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rasika-Jayakody-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-192187\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rasika Jayakody<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Even though the top-tier of the United National Front (UNF) have pledged their full support to UNP leader <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Ranil+Wickremesinghe\">Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/a><\/strong>, there is some noise among certain sections of the grassroots layer of the party to change the party leadership before the next Parliamentary elections.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I am no big fan of Ranil Wickremesinghe and am a firm believer that the current UNP leader is a man of many weaknesses. His greatest liability is a close circle of friends he has surrounded himself with, much to the detriment of the UNP and its supporters. Many talented grassroots level leaders of the party were sidelined or booted out to make way for Wickremesinghe\u2019s favourites and that, in return, crippled the party\u2019s electoral machinery in more ways than one. Even during the last three and a half years of the unity government, critical decisions relating to the country\u2019s economy and future were often made in consultation with Wickremesinghe\u2019s close friends who were divorced from reality and failed to understand even the fundamentals of electoral politics. Some of his choices for key positions in the government, including that of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Arjuna+Mahendran\">Arjuna Mahendran<\/a><\/strong>, sent the people\u2019s fervent aspirations for good governance and transparency down a precipice.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This criticism of Wickremesinghe, however, does not lend any legitimacy to the lunatic conduct of President <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Maithripala+Sirisena\">Maithripala Sirisena<\/a><\/strong> who summarily dismissed Wickremesinghe and appointed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Mahinda+Rajapaksa\"><strong>Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/strong><\/a> as Prime Minister through a spate of illegal and unconstitutional actions. Sirisena should be blamed squarely for the current morass the country finds itself in, and should be held accountable for<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>all his misdeeds. Sirisena\u2019s unconstitutional actions and his brazen demonstrations of executive power over the past four weeks, have done far greater damage to the country and its system of governance than Wickremesinghe\u2019s kitchen cabinet can ever imagine.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Calls to change the UNP leadership find resonance with sentiments expressed by the Sirisena- Rajapaksa camp. Sirisena, addressing a UPFA rally near the Parliament complex earlier this month, said he attempted twice to replace Wickremesinghe with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Karu+Jayasuriya\">Karu Jayasuriya<\/a> <\/strong>and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Sajith+Premadasa\">Sajith Premadasa<\/a><\/strong>, who had flatly turned down the offers to assume premiership through the back-door. Even now, having caused irreparable damage to the Parliamentary democracy of Sri Lanka, Sirisena claims he is ready to appoint any UNP MP as the Prime Minister, with the exception of Ranil Wickremesinghe.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It is clear that Sirisena\u2019s animosity towards Wickremesinghe is not rooted in matters of principle and integrity. Sirisena has explained in several public statements his \u00a0resentment towards Wickremesinghe lies in lifestyle choices and the inability to cope with unbridgeable cultural differences. As much as you cannot take the Colombo out of Wickremesinghe, the petty villager of Polonnaruwa can\u2019t be taken out of President Sirisena. It is Sirisena\u2019s inevitable personality clash with Wickremesinghe that finds expression in the current political crisis leading the country into an inescapable chasm.<\/p>\n<p>The solution to the current political crisis is not to pander to Sirisena\u2019s inferiority complex by forcing a leadership change in the UNP at this point in time. All MPs should extend unwavering support to Wickremesinghe to reclaim his rightful place and Sirisena should be forced to work with the UNP leader until the next Presidential election. As I have explained in a previous article, only a Presidential election can resolve the current political crisis and Sirisena should seek a fresh mandate from the people for his course of action.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Any attempt to replace Wickremesinghe with another parliamentarian of the same party will lend legitimacy to Sirisena\u2019s unconstitutional and arbitrary actions that led the country down a disastrous path. It will betray the spirit of the pro-democratic struggle sparked by the current turmoil. Wickremesinghe, albeit undeservedly, has become the face of the struggle and his reinstatement is a key component of the restoration of constitutional democracy in Sri Lanka. \u2018Undeservedly\u2019, however, remains the keyword.<\/p>\n<p>Matters pertaining to the UNP\u2019s leadership and the party\u2019s internal democracy should be resolved after Wickremesinghe\u2019s reinstatement, and Sirisena, a man who grossly and grotesquely violated the Constitution, should not have a say in those matters. A Presidential election will also be a solution to those calling for drastic internal reforms within the UNP whose leadership remains unchanged for nearly 25 years. If Wickremesinghe wins the Presidential election, he will not have to explain reasons for his existence in the party, and if he loses, he will not be there to explain it.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":192187,"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-196248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Reinstatement Of Ranil: A Key Component Of Restoring Democracy In Sri Lanka\u00a0 - 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\/reinstatement-of-ranil-a-key-component-of-restoring-democracy-in-sri-lanka\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reinstatement Of Ranil: A Key Component Of Restoring Democracy In Sri Lanka\u00a0 - 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