Presidential election and the Ranil factor

“Had people any choice so far? The UNP is still being led by Ranil. It was Ranil who was instrumental in making the LTTE such a formidable force. Ranil was a powerful minister of the UNP government that murdered more than 30,000 Sinhalese youth during the terror era of late eighties and early nineties.”
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By Helasingha Bandara

(December 08, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) With the emergence of Sarath Fonseka as a candidate, the whole complexion of the forthcoming presidential election changed. Mahinda Rajapaksha had total assurance that he would be President of Sri Lanka for another term until the unexpected opponent appeared on the scene.

People agree that Rajapaksha has played his part of the concluded war efficiently and effectively. It is also agreed that the population bore all the difficulties while the war was on going. Such bearing was a sacrifice on the part of the people in support of the government and the security forces to complete their task. Following the aftermath of the war people expected the government to address other issues such as lawlessness, corruption, nepotism, discrimination, racism, cost of living etc. On the contrary people saw further deterioration of those issues. The politicians and the supporters of the government appeared to act with impunity against the opponents and for their own good, instilling a fear psychosis in the minds of the people while the memories of the dastardly acts of the Premadasa terror regime was still fresh in the minds of people. This led people to expect an alternative to this government.

Had people any choice so far? The UNP is still being led by Ranil. It was Ranil who was instrumental in making the LTTE such a formidable force. Ranil was a powerful minister of the UNP government that murdered more than 30,000 Sinhalese youth during the terror era of late eighties and early nineties. He is known to be incompetent and believed to have no knowledge about the living conditions of the common man of the country. It was Ranil who campaigned against the war efforts and indeed tried to influence foreign regimes to exert pressure on Sri Lanka to change the course of the war. People have lost trust in his loyalty to the country and in his efficiency in governing this country. Thus people had no choice other than to quietly tolerate the injustices of the present government until now.

Suddenly there appears a straight talking general who is known for personal discipline and also for disciplining the military, a fact that was instrumental in winning the war. As soon as he came out as a potential candidate he declared war against corruption, lawlessness, nepotism, discrimination etc that Rajapaksha has so far failed even to mention. This was music in the ears of the public that were waiting for the emergence of someone who is capable of eliminating the social evils that grip our country and prevent its people from having a share of the good life.

However, the Ranil factor is crucial in this election. Both Sarath Fonseka and the public are in a dilemma. For Sarath Fonseka the Ranil factor is like “can’t drink because it is too hot, can’t throw out because it is milk” (unu hinda bonnath be, kiri hinda ahaka dannath be). SF can’t win without the UNP block-vote and while Ranil is around he can’t win either. The voters’ dilemma is that they are uncertain as to whether it turns out to be “give away ginger and take chillies in“(inguru deela miris gaththa wagei). People are certain that if MR is elected for the next term the country will go downhill rapidly for he would not give a toss for the social evils or the development as a nation but care only for his own gains whichever the way. On the other hand people are uncertain as to whether the emergence of SF would end up with Ranil having undeserved power.

If SF can convince the public that he will eradicate social evils and develop the country and improve the quality of life of the ordinary citizen the voter will hesitate to vote Rajapaksha in. However the most important factor is that he has to convince the public that he is not a puppet of any other political party.

Convincing the public that Ranil is not going to come to power as the executive prime minister riding Sarath Fonseka’s shoulders is crucial for his election campaign if he is to win. Sri Lankans are very much aware of the plans of Pilimathalawe when he enthroned Kannasamy as King Sri Wikkrama with the intention of ousting the young king in a short time. But the young king was strong willed and too intelligent for Pilimatalawe’s plan to hatch. Sarath Fonseka has to prove to people that if he is elected he would be the one who would run the show fairly and squarely.

-Sri Lanka Guardian