In defence of Ranil

By Aman Faris

(February 25, Colombo, Sri Lnaka Guardian) Perhaps the only Opposition Leader who has got such bad press in recent times is Ranil Wickremesinghe. There is hardly any English daily or weekly that speaks favourably of his policies or his credentials, so much so, it makes one wonder whether there is a conspiracy against either him or the UNP or maybe both.

A paper which belongs to his uncle takes sadistic pleasure in mocking him at the drop of a hat in its political commentary but never fails to prop up a racist party. Though this is all well and good in a democracy, one begins to wonder if there is a sinister motive behind all this when we see that there is no let up in this vilification campaign.

Compare the favourable publicity CBK got when she entered politics as an opposition leader and you’ll know what I mean. She didn’t have any credentials you would expect a potential leader to have. Still the media went gaga over her like as if she was God’s gift to mankind. The media gave her victory on a platter and the rest is history.

Virtually all the privately owned media gave what we call ‘full support’ to the opposition when the UNP was in power. Ranil’s brother’s TV network was no exception. But today they don’t care a whit for the opposition. Why, they even cheer those who crossed over to the government fold and give them ‘full respect’ on TV programmes of various sorts. In any other country where even a semblance of democracy prevails they would be treated with the contempt they deserve.

There are those in the media who never tire of blaming Ranil for the CFA he signed with the LTTE. Ranil, they proclaimed from all parts of the country, with his CFA had divided the country, and that the UNP was pro-LTTE. Memories are never short; the anti Ranil and anti- UNP media makes people forget the good that had been done.

Do people remember that when Ranil signed the peace deal there was a huge demand for peace? People from all walks of life were crying out for peace. Too many were dying and the country was bankrupt. Remember this was under the UPFA government. In comes Ranil and gave the people what they wanted — peace. He decided there were other ways to fight the war. It was he who masterminded the LTTE split.

And to this day his life is in danger as a result of that strategically brilliant move of his. He got what he wanted without firing a shot or harming anybody in anyway. That’s what you call a statesman. But the people wanted the ordinary run of the mill politician instead.

Remember also that during the brief period he governed the country he raised the value of the rupee by his astute economic policies. The country was poised to take off, when jealous opposition members realised that if Ranil was given his full term they would have no chance to come to power. Mediocrities think like that.

Presently the government is wasting Rs. 500 million every single day for the war. Eventually we might win the war, but lose everything else in the process — including peace. There are many ways to lose a war. One is to get the enemy to waste all its resources and sap all its energy.

Also bear in mind, it was not Ranil or the UNP who brought in the Norwegians. It was CBK and the present government leaders who were top rung members of her government and cabinet at that time. It’s they who should be blamed for bringing in foreign elements into the country. But who do they blame? Ranil and the UNP.

And the media just goes along without even bothering to give the proper perspective to the people. Instead it chooses to brainwash its readers with all the racist jargon it can muster. Ranil’s uncle’s paper has cast many an aspersion after the latest provincial council elections suggesting in an editorial that the UNP was anti-Sinhalese because the minorities voted for the party in overwhelming numbers, as if it were a crime to consider minorities in the country as equal citizens.

No Muslim was elected on the UPFA ticket at the recent provincial council election, said this paper.

Not a single government minister has been exposed for corruption in these papers although everyone knows corruption is endemic. Instead they choose to smash Ranil and the UNP much to the delight of government MPs.

True to form there was a cartoon portraying him as the ‘best loser.’ Personally he has not lost a single election. Whenever he has contested, he had won hands down despite a hostile media. It is well known – but never mentioned by the media – that he was cheated of victory at the last presidential election. Huge numbers of votes were taken out of the polling lists just like that. All these votes were UNP ones.

The Elections Commissioner didn’t want to say a word about this fraud to escape responsibility. He is in the habit of deflecting any criticism by resorting to tactics like how much he wants to retire and that he is a heart patient and all that. Starting from the infamous Wayamba under CBK, elections under him have always been controversial.

In any democracy a vote heist would never be tolerated. The media would go to town and would not rest until the whole truth was bared, because in other countries the media is the eyes and the ears of the people. In Sri Lanka it is subservient to the powers that be. But then we are talking of independent media. Sri Lanka has no independent media — only a private one. In the meantime Ranil bashing will go on until he quits.
-Sri Lanka Guardian