UPFA has staying power, UNP won’t last even 20 overs

Imust admit I was somewhat bemused by the editor’s request to respond to Paakshikaya’s column last week because Paakshikaya is clearly elated at his new found title. I am very happy to let him enjoy that privilege because he knows not that it will be short lived -- another fifteen days, to be precise -and thereafter, it will be business as usual, with President Maithripala Sirisena steering the Ship of State with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as his able lieutenant.

Paakshikaya complains that before the eighth of January, every aspect of the country was controlled by one family. What matters was not who controlled what, my friend, but whether it was controlled properly. To cite just one example, when the war against the Tigers was raging, the Rajapaksas acted in concert: Gotabaya looked after the war effort, Basil supervised the ‘war economy’ and Mahinda dealt with the international attempts to destabilise the war effort. As a result, Paakshikaya is today a free man, able to go about his business without having to worry whether a bomb will get him before he returns home after a hard day’s work.

After the war was won, Brother Chamal looked after Parliament and ensured its independence, Gotabaya re-built cities and so on. Instead, what do we have today? A government that is running at sixes and sevens. The President is contradicting the Prime Minister (“I told him to ask the Governor of the Cen- tral Bank to resign” – but he didn’t listen!!) and the Cabinet Spokesman is contradicting everybody (“Parliament will be dissolved only after the 20th Amendment is passed etc.). If the Government doesn’t know what it is doing, how can the nation expect it to deliver the goods? We lasted ten years, Paakshikaya, you couldn’t last six months; we played the test match and won; you couldn’t last the distance in the T-20.

Paakshikaya complains that the election has been all about Rajapaksa when he is only one candidate for the Kurunegala district. That is not because this is a one man party but because we want our party, the SLFP and our alliance, the UPFA, to be united because we know what the UNP always tries to do: split the SLFP and wait for victory by default. You can’t fool all the people all the time, Paakshikaya.

In the ’80s, JR encouraged Sirima Bandaranaike and Maithripala Senanayake to fight each other and watched from the sidelines while the SLFP disintegrated. In the ’90s, R. Premadasa and D.B. Wijetunge actively nurtured the battle between the Bandaranaike siblings, Chandrika and Anura. We have learnt that lesson from our history and that is why we didn’t want Ranil Wickremesinghe to follow in his uncle’s footsteps while another Maithripala from Rajarata battles with another former leader of the party.

Paakshikaya is worried now because that did not happen. President Maithripala Sirisena didn’t let his differences of opinion with Mahinda Rajapaksa stand in the way of party unity. UNPers, instead of doing what they were supposed to do as a government, instead of organising their own party at the grassroots level were asking only one question: will Mahinda Rajapaksa get nominations from the SLFP? They were almost certain that he won’t, that he will have to contest on his own, that would split the SLFP vote and the UNP would romp home easy winners. That was their strategy.

It didn’t quite happen that way despite all of Ranil’s plotting and scheming, did it, Paakshikaya? And now you have shivers running down your spine when you see massive crowds throng Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rallies and all you can do is complain about Mahinda having to save his finger from an over enthu- siastic supporter who was literally in high spirits. Tell me, Paakshikaya, will Ranil ever get such a reception where the masses want to mob him, and get up close and personal with him? I think not! For Ranil’s sake, I hope not too, for he wouldn’t know what to do.

Paakshikaya waxes lyrical about the “new found” media freedom that apparently exists now. Well, considering the way Mahinda Rajapaksa was vilified before the January election, I daresay it existed even during his time but your media freedom is such that the Chairman of Rupavahini has already resigned. And he has such ‘freedom’ at his disposal that he has given such a flimsy excuse for his departure.

Paakshikaya complains about the ‘delay’ in releasing our manifesto. Well, at least we have only one. What the UNP has instead is a manifesto and a series of MoUs -- one is being signed every day! There is a MoU with former SLFPers such as Rajitha, another with Rauff and his Muslim Congress and yet another with Champika and the JHU. The latest we heard is a MoU with Sobhitha Thera and his numerous civil organisations.

But, Paakshikaya, you still haven’t told us about the most important MOU of them all -the one you will have with the TNA. Now, if that were to happen, it would be like Dudley’s famous ‘hath havula’ in the ’60s and that didn’t last very long, did it? The TNA’s call for federalism has been greeted with deafening silence from the UNP.

You need all these MoUs because you know that you will not win enough seats to form a government of your own whereas we don’t need any MoUs because our only MoU is with the voters of Sri Lanka and we are certain we can form a government on the 18th of August.

Then, Paakshikaya, you say we have forwarded the same ‘corrupt’ candidates to contest the elections but I am sure you are aware of the principle of being presumed innocent until found guilty. The fact of the matters is, after six months in government and dragging our MPs to the notorious FCID almost on a daily basis, you haven’t been able to find anyone guilty.

And, who is the one man who has been not taken to the FCID during these six months? It is the Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran. The more you try to hush it up the more it emerges. The Central Bank was robbed in broad daylight. Pardon me, Paakshikaya, you shouldn’t cast the first stone unless you haven’t sinned!

So, let’s play, Paakshikaya, because I believe we have a level playing field at this election. There is no war, or a post-war euphoria to make it a one-sided contest. It will be us against you and all the allies you can muster ranging from Champika Ranawaka to R. Sampanthan. And, as dawn breaks on the eighteenth of August you will be in for a rude shock because Ranil Wickremesinghe will have to pack his bags and leave for his 5th Lane home -- for the third time when Mahinda Rajapaksa returns to Temple Trees -- also, for the third time.