“Rebels without a Cause”

Reply to Ilika Karunaratne’s article headlined

Ilika Karunaratne in her article in the Daily Mirror under the caption “Rebels without a Cause” begins her article with the facile sentence

“They know very well the procedure that is followed and should have bode their time, without making a public show of their objectives and bringing the party into disrepute thus playing into the hands of the opposition”. Where is this procedure laid down? Do the provisions of the Constitution of the UNP forbid any person in the party making a public show of his objectives? In fact, the public show in the form of rallies has reinvigorated the grass root support of the UNP. The lacklustre performance of Ranil

Wickremesinghe in rallies held by the party has dulled the enthusiasm of the rank and file of the party.

Ms. Karunaratne has quoted the following lines from Julius Caesar.

They believe in the words of Brutus in Julius Caesar “There is a tide in the affairs of men”.

Taken at the flood turns to fortune omitted.

All voyages of their life are bound turn to shallows and miseries

On such a full sea are we now afloat

It is for this very reason, the great leaders of the world bide their time.

Further, the action taken by the Secretary of the Party to suspend two parliamentarians reveal malice and ill will the Wickremesinghe camp show towards their fellow parliamentarians. When Wijedasa

Rajapakshe and Ven. Rathana Thera crossed over to the opposition no action was taken to expel them from the party. Such action is expressly provided for in the Constitution of this Country.

Even though we are a Republic, we still follow the Westminster model.

If Churchill, then a backbencher in the Conservative Party, without waging a relentless attack on

Neville Chamberlain and his policy of appeasement, which ultimately brought the fall of Chamberlain, waited passively and bode his time, he would never have become Prime

Minister of England. Going further back, Disraeli’s great series of antipeel philippics gave him the fame, which ultimately enabled him to climb to the top of the greasy pole. Some of Disraeli’s words achieved instant immortality “The right Honourable Gentleman caught the Whigs bathing and walked away with their clothes. He has left them in full enjoyment of their liberal position and he is himself a strict conservative of their garments”

In another instance, where Peel advised him to take the advice of a candid friend, Disraeli replied “Give me the avowed the erect manly foe, bold I can meet, and perhaps turn the blow, but save, save me from my candid friend “Had these great Prime Ministers bode their time, they would never have even been considered for any ministerial office. On the other hand, R.a.butler bode his time, and never

became Prime Minister of England. Ms. Karunarane refers to a

statement that the UNP is a disciplined

party. In 1952, the Trine Newspaper published “The Premier Stakes “where Sir John Kotelewela says the intrigues and conspiracies hatched by the UNP Parliamentarians deprived him of the Premiership. At a meeting held in the Prime Minister’s office on September10, 1952, he falsely denied that he was the author of

“Premier Stakes“and avoided expulsion from the cabinet . In

1972, JR Jayewardena published an article in the national newspapers stating that the UNP has no future and he proposes that the UNP join the government. If his proposal is rejected, he will, with those who will come with him, join the Government.

The UNP working committee unanimously decided to expel him from the party, which resolution was to be ratified at the Annual Convention. JR had got false entrance tickets printed at Sirisoma Ranasinghe’s Swastika Press,

and his goons were to enter the Convention and disrupt the meeting. It was this man who became the President of both the UNP and the Country. Ranasinghe Premadasa held a series of meetings under the banner“citizen’s Front”, and criticized the leadership of the UNP.

Ms. Karunaratne says “,…….. suffers from an inferiority and, cannot cope with his role. In fact, it is Ranil who cannot cope with his role. He was perhaps the worst leader of the opposition. He never uttered one word either within or without Parliament regarding the corruption in the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government. He never uttered a word with regard to the outright sale of prime property in Fort belonging to the Army to Shangri-la

Hotel. He maintained a deafening silence when Mattala Airport was built, in violation of the feasibility report submitted to the Ranil

Wickremesinghe Government. His acts of commission and omission as Leader of the Opposition are countless. He had the support of the MR Government. Most of his foreign trips were funded by the previous Government.

As Prime Minister, he protected the corrupt in the party, The Minister, who in his evidences before the Bond

Commission said “He does not know how his wife’ had Rs.150 million to purchase an apartment from Arjun

Aloysius became his closest ally in the party. Recently, in his evidence before the Commission, revealed that as Prime Minister he had the knowledge, if not a party to take on a monthly lease of Rs. 21million for a building, which has still not been used by the Agricultural Ministry. He, as Prime Minister, did nothing to stop the lease being executed. He failed to assert himself when he was not invited to the security council meetings It is a common belief that as Prime Minister he protected the Rajapaksas. A world renowned newspaper said that the

American Embassy had given Ranil the necessary documents some time ago regarding the money laundering by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Those documents, it was reported, are now gathering dust at Temple

Trees. Recently Gotabhaya, at the instigation of Ranil, with the connivance of the interior Minister

Vajira Abeywardena obtained a passport bypassing all procedure. He did not personally attend the Immigration Office to hand over his application. The application was handed over after the cut off point.

The new passport makes no reference to his dual citizenship nor to the original identity card. On the strength of this passport,

Gota is claiming that he had ceased to be a dual citizenship holder. It is clear that Gota has no intention of renouncing his dual citizenship, In fact, his wife has still not made an application to renounce her dual citizenship.

Unfortunately, it is Ranil who is lacking in loyalty and gratitude to his fellow parliamentarians. He is now playing the role of a traitor. It is due to the lack of loyalty towards the die-hard supporters that vast numbers of Parliamentarians crossed over to the Rajapaksa camp. It is the common belief that he has now formed a pact with Gotabhaya.

He, to be the President and Ranil to be the leader of the opposition. The Government has already ordered a bullet proof car for the Leader of the Opposition - An unprecedented move.

Even at the height of the 30-year war no such car was ordered for the leader of the opposition. He presumably wishes to be the leader of the opposition, after the General Elections. Ranil, will need a bullet proof car to protect himself not from the terrorists but from the loyal supporters of the UNP for the perfidy he has committed on the party and his supporters. No doubt, he is following the principles enunciated by his uncle who expressed publicly his desire to join the government of

Ms. Bandaranaike. Perhaps, Ranil prefers a Govigama President from SLPP rather than a non-govigama President from the UNP.

To re-echo the words of Oliver Cromwell uttered to the long Parliament, which applies with all its vigour to Ranil Wickremesinghe, “You have stayed here too long, go. Go, I say in the name of God, go.”

Ranasinghe Premadasa held a series of meetings under the banner“citizen’s Front”, and criticized the leadership of the UNP

Ranil never spoke against the rampant corruption in the previous government

He never opposed when Army land was sold to Shangri-la or when building the Mattala Airport

Ranil has now formed a pact with Gota. The latter to be the President and himself to be the Leader of the Opposition