The opposition parties in Sri Lanka
consists of UNP, JVP, TNA and few other parties such as the Democratic Party of
Sarath Fonseka. The JHU can be now considered as a party of the opposition and
in addition there are certain individuals without affiliations to any
recognized political party who are identified with the opposition. Maithripala
Sirisena belongs to the latter category though he is contesting the
Presidential Elections as a candidate of a recognized political party and as
the common opposition candidate. It should be mentioned that a candidate
nominated by a political party at the Presidential elections or Parliamentary
elections or any other elections need not be a member of the political party.
These political parties or the
individuals in the opposition do not form a common opposition nor are they
babies in politics. The UNP has been in politics for about seventy years and
Ranil Wickremesinghe has led the party for about twenty years. The JVP is now
more than fifty years old and Anura Kumara Dissanayake is known in the
political world for at least twenty five years. The TNA and its predecessors
such as the Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) the Tamil Congress, Hindu Maha
Sabhai, have been in politics since the days of Ponnambalams, meaning
Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Arunacahalam and G G Ponnambalam. The JHU and its
predecessors, Janatha Mithuro, Thrastha Virodhi Jathika Vyaparaya have
participated in various political activities for about twenty five years. Only
Sarath Fonseka is relatively new to politics but he is known for his white flag
story (sudu kody kathava) since his visit to US in 2009 after the Nandikadal
Victory.
It is well known that these political
parties and individuals have different political policies and do not constitute
one political unit. Neither Chandrika Kumaratunga nor Maithripala Kumaratunga belong
to the SLFP at present despite the latter’s claim that he is still the
secretary of the party. The elections commissioner has recognized Anura
Priyadarshana Yapa as the secretary of the SLFP and the party has suspended the
membership of Maithripala Sirisena. The latter’s claim that they will form an
all party or national government if accepted means that it will be a government
of the TNA and JHU as well. This is not altogether impossible as the JHU is
capable of changing its policies opportunistically. The JHU leadership was with
the JVP in their school days and then with the Chinthana Parshadaya for a short
time, then joined Mangala Samaraweera and his federal politics opposing “war”,
then coming to nationalistic policies after realizing that there was an
“illuma” (demand) for such politics. They can go back to Mangala Samaraweera
politics if they think that there is an “illuma” for federal politics. However,
the SLFP under Mahinda Rajapaksa will not be in a so called all party
conference, and it should not be forgotten that the SLFP has the biggest mass
base at present.
In any event, Maithripala Sirisena has
had to sign several pacts and it is clear that there is no common opposition.
Let the so called common candidate spell out his policy on the Tamil problem,
the devolution of powers to the provincial councils, on the northern and
eastern provincial councils, police and land powers etc. This presidential
elections is finally on defeating Tamil racism operated through the dispersed
Tamils by England and US, and not on “good governance” and western styled bogus democracy of Ven.
Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera and his team (not dayakayas) of left out leftists and
academic trade unionists who have no existence if not for the publicity they
receive from some sections of media. It is England the colonial superpower of
yesteryear that established, nurtured and maintained Tamil racism against the
Sinhala people (not a so called Sinhala government) to take revenge from the
Sinhala people whom they could not defeat at “war” (they annexed the Sinhale or
Sinhala kingdom through cunning diplomacy of Doyle in 1815 using a pact that
they never wanted to implement) and to destroy the Sinhala Buddhist culture. We
would like to know the policy of Maithripala Sirisena on the Tamil problem in
general and his strategy of defeating the dispersed Tamil manipulated by
England and US.
Ranil Wickremesinghe was not born last
year and everybody knows his policy not only on the Tamil problem through the
ceasefire agreement but also on giving employment in the public sector which he
curtailed and “good governance”. Ven. Sobhitha Thera more than anybody else
knows “good governance” of the UNP when he and the late Prof. Sarachchandra
were given a “panchakarma” treatment of body massage. However, Ranil
Wickremesinghe talks of democracy media freedom etc., as if he was born
yesterday and it is clear that he and the others are dancing to the tune of
somebody else. However, they do not know that it is the tune of Swan song. Chandrika
Kumaratunga who has no mass base at all, (she is not a member of the Mahajana
Party or Bahujana Nidahas Party of Rajitha Senaratne and two or three others)
is known for her policy on PTOMS and other policies that were directed towards
separatism and how she went to Chennai with her late husband who was anti
Sinhala Buddhist to the core to discuss with Tamil terrorists. The JVP has had
no consistent policy on the Tamil problem from Wijeweera days and they have
been wavering between pseudo nationalism and what they understand as Marxism in
their history. Their record on democracy is known at least since the late eighties
when they threatened to kill those who wanted to exercise their franchise at
the elections. The university students know the democracy practiced by the JVP
(and the Peratugameens) and it is not known that the JVP has changed its
policies this year.
The promises of all these parties and
the individuals are nothing but mere statements to fool the people and Sri
Lanka under Mahinda Rajapaksa has a better record of “democracy” media freedom
etc. than during UNP or Chandrika days not to mention the “democracy” we
experienced in the “occupied” areas during the JVP terrorist days. Except for
the rhetoric there is nothing substantial in the speeches of the opposition
(parties and individuals) and in any event they do not function as one unit. In
that sense there is no opposition that contests the Presidential Elections.
There is another dimension to this
phenomenon. The opposition is only an “achacharu” of political parties and
individuals with different policies and they have been “united” by England and US
who are interested in defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Elections
for his stand against Tamil terrorism and his policy on Tamil racism in
general. Mahinda Rajapaksa is the most nationalist leader and his record as an
anti colonialist is much better than most of the so called Marxists and left of
centre pink socialists who are nothing but agents of the west and repressive
western knowledge in the final analysis. Thus it is not the so called
opposition that is contesting the elections as the opponent of Mahinda
Rajapaksa but the western powers led by England and US. Maithripala Sirisena
who is the weakest personality in the opposition is only the candidate of
England and west not different from Sarath Fonseka of infamous white flag
incident. Mahinda Rajapaksa would be opposed by the west led by England and US
for the second time and our local boys and girls (guys and gals in American
parlance) would be only the stage actors and actresses acting according to the
script of present day Doyle s.
Nalin De Silva
12-12-2014