THE SLFP MESS; FOR WHOSE BENEFIT?
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leaders who had been imprisoned for their involvement in the 1971 Insurrection followed an untraditional strategy subsequent to their release from prison in 1977, in their pursuit of political power. They, instead of mainly encountering the United National Party (UNP), the then ruling party, chose first to attack the leftist parties which were the third force then, to capture that position and then take on the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to become the second powerful party in the country.
After the success of the first phase of their strategy within a year or two, they started their encounter with the SLFP with a series of lectures under the theme “Sri Lanka Nidhahas Pakshaye Gamanaka Avasanaya” (The last journey of the SLFP). The term “Gamanaka Avasanaya”- last journey- had been taken from a documentary produced by the SLFP to pay tribute to its founder leader and the former Prime Minister, S.w.r.d.bandaranaike, soon after his assassination in 1959.
However, the JVP failed to send the SLFP on its “last journey” then and the latter succeeded in ruling the country for 25 years since then until 2019, forming coalitions under various names but with almost the same leftist parties. Nevertheless, it lost more than 75 percent of its vote bank during the last four years - between 2015 and 2019 - it was in power under President Maithripala Sirisena, due to a major split of the party in 2014.
The party is now engulfed in such an unprecedented crisis that one would see the SLFP on its last journey. It is now rudderless, Maithripala Sirisena has been prevented by the Colombo District Court from performing his duties as the Chairman of the SLFP until the hearing of a case filed by former President and former Chairperson of the party Chandrika Kumaratunga.
On the same day, the Colombo District Court issued a similar order preventing Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Sarathi Dushmantha Mithrapala from engaging in the positions of Acting Chairman and Acting General Secretary of the SLFP respectively.
LEADERSHIP CLASHES
The latest round of clashes between the leadership of the party and the members of it who are holding ministerial positions in the government erupted after Ministers Mahinda Amaraweera, Lasantha Alagiyawanna and Duminda Dissanayake were stripped of their positions in the party on March 30. However, the Colombo District Court on April 1 issued an interim injunction preventing the SLFP Executive Committee from executing that decision. Then came the District Court’s enjoining order against Sirisena following Kumaratunga’s petition on April 4.
A group of people identifying themselves as the politburo of the SLFP appointed Nimal Siripala de Silva as the Acting Chairman of the Party on April 8. Then, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was appointed as the Acting Chairman of SLFP by a group of people identifying themselves as the Executive Committee on April 21 on behalf of the faction led by Sirisena. Now, there are two Acting Chairmen, one appointed by the politburo and the other by the Executive Committee.
When the Sirisena faction appointed Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe Acting Chairman, Duminda Dissanayake of the Nimal Siripala faction accused Sirisena that the former President was attempting to influence the court cases against him by doing so. However, the court gave an interim order on April 24 against the same person holding the Justice portfolio.
The SLFP which ruled the country alone and coalesced with other parties for the most part (40 years) of the 76 years since the Independence is currently entangled in the second toughest leadership feud in its history. The first leadership tussle occurred in the early 1980s. Both disputes, interestingly, involved a female member
nd of the Bandaranaike family and a person by the name of Maithripala– the first was between Sirimavo Bandaranaike and a former minister Maithripala Senanayake and the second between former Presidents Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Maithripala Sirisena. Both battles went to court.
INFIGHTING
The origin of the current infighting goes back to the sudden rebellion by Maithripala Sirisena in 2014 against the SLFP leader and the President of the country Mahinda Rajapaksa. Sirisena contested the 2015 Presidential election under the symbol of the swan of the New Democratic Front (NDF) without resigning or being sacked from the SLFP. However, Mahinda Rajapaksa who lost the Presidential race volunteered to hand over the leadership of the SLFP and the United People’s Freedom Front (UPFA), the coalition led by the SLFP to Sirisena after the Presidential election. He might have instigated to do so by his apprehension and the understanding of the executive Presidency which he held for nine years before it was transferred to Sirisena.
Yet, the division in the SLFP persisted with the majority of party leaders and supporters continuing to side with the Rajapaksa faction which then was called the “Joint Opposition.” They officially severed all ranks with the SLFP to join the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna when Basil Rajapaksa formed it in 2016, leaving the signboard and a small section of SLFP members with Sirisena. Nonetheless, some of them further remained loyal to Sirisena to enjoy perks and privileges attached to ministerial positions.
Sirisena felt the danger lurking ahead when local councils were swept at the 2018 elections by Rajapaksas whom he feared to “send himself six feet underground” had he been defeated at the 2015 Presidential election. He unflinchingly sacked his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa in the same year, only to be censured by the country’s apex court. Rajapaksas who expected an early comeback had to eat humble pie, but Sirisena emerged triumphant in mending fences with them, securing his political future. The SLFP contested the 2020 general election under the SLPP-LED by Rajapaksas.
However, life under the administration of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was not so pleasing for Siriseana and SLFP with some of the ministers openly humiliating them. Besides, he was let down in the case against him on the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government as well as the government-led by Ranil Wickremesinghe who was his Prime Minister at the time of those attacks. The former President retaliated by attempting to remove his party men from the Cabinet but only to create frictions within his party. He removed ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva and Mahinda Amaraweera from all party positions in June 2022, but within days the court issued an interim order against the decision.
PARTY CONVENTION
In September, last year, they seemed to have sorted out issues when Sirisena, Nimal Siripala and Amaraweera were seen together at the party convention and press conferences. But it was proved wrong with the latest round of feud. Unfortunately for Sirisena the latest row erupted at a time when President Ranil Wickremesinghe who is said to be planning to contest the forthcoming Presidential election is enticing politicians from other parties using various perks and privileges as baits. This definitely is likely to encourage the SLFP dissidents. Already there seem to be issues within some political factions created by the President’s approaches towards such politicians.
It is against this backdrop one has to understand the allegations by the Sirisena faction that their rivals were attempting to tie the SLFP up with the UNP and the counter claims by the latter that the former who wants them to relinquish ministerial portfolios have appointed a minister as their Acting Chairman.
The role played by Minister Wijayadasa Rajapakshe would also arouse interest in many. The Nimal Siripala faction accusation is that he cannot accept the post of Acting Chairman of the SLFP while being a member of the SLPP while the SLPP leaders warn that Rajapakshe would be deprived of his Parliamentary seat as well as the ministerial post.
The simple truth is that all those who have been involved in this mess are only concerned about powers and privileges at the expense of the masses whom they are claiming to be fighting for.