Ranil’s Return

The United National Party (UNP) decision to nominate its Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to the party’s sole parliamentary seat, one secured through the National List, has ruffled many political feathers. The furore about Wickremesinghe’s re-entry to Parliament, where he has held a seat since 1977, speaks volumes about the man’s reputation among friends and foe alike, to shape political events.

The former Prime Minister has been written off many times during his long career in politics. Each time, he has clawed himself back to relevance. No other UNP Leader has faced such an intense backlash within his party, and still managed to hold the reins of power for over a quarter century. Some call his political survival skills remarkable. Others accuse him of clinging to power at all costs.

Be that as it may, Ranil Wickremesinghe returns to Parliament at a moment when Sri Lanka is fathoms deep in crisis. Now more than ever, the seasoned politician has a duty to make a positive and constructive impact on democratic discourse in the national legislature.

There is no denying that the Wickremesinghe Doctrine for obtaining political power has always been to ‘sit and wait’. This appears to be a common affliction for members of this party, including Wickremesinghe’s erstwhile deputy Sajith Premadasa who broke from the UNP last year to form the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and wrest the Opposition Leadership.

For Wickremesinghe, the strategy worked in 2001 and 2015 when incumbent governments were unpopular and riddled with crises. Both times, the country looked to Wickremesinghe’s maturity and intellect to fix what ailed the nation and voted the coalitions he was leading into office.

There is broad consensus that the SLPP Government has failed to deliver. It is also widely accepted that the SJB has been an abysmal failure in terms of performing its role as the country’s democratic opposition. As Opposition Leader, Sajith Premadasa has failed to capture the political imagination as a viable political alternative to the Rajapaksa-led SLPP. The moment is in fact fast approaching when Sri Lankans may have to admit that the SJB has already fulfilled its original raison d'être and that the sole purpose of its birth and existence, was to end Wickremesinghe’s hegemony over the UNP.

Even without being hamstrung by Wickremesinghe, the SJB has struggled to create its own niche and ideology in the Sri Lankan political landscape. The SJB’s positions on the presidency, political devolution and civil liberties often sail too close to the winds of nationalism and parochialism, the main domain of the SLPP. Critics have argued that Premadasa’s SJB is no more than ‘Rajapaksa-lite’, a slightly more minority friendly, slightly less bigoted version of the SLPP.

As the democratic opposition, the SJB should have stood for the rights of the discriminated and oppressed, a voice against corruption and repression, and offered an alternative economic vision. Instead, during his time as Opposition Leader, Premadasa has devoted all his energy to pursuing voters that are firmly entrenched in Camp Rajapaksa. By doing so, he has alienated the UNP’s traditional moderate voter base and suffered a steady erosion of support from within minority communities and influential civil society coalitions that will be key to future electoral success. If it is to stand any chance of forming a Government in the future, the SJB needs to seek the creation of a broader coalition of opposition forces, including the UNP. Instead, the main opposition party has vigorously, publicly, denounced the idea.

It is in this ideological vacuum that Wickremesinghe returns to Parliament. In the context that Premadasa has failed to rally support from moderate forces, Wickremesinghe poses a greater threat to the SJB’s monopoly of opposition politics than perhaps Premadasa realises.

As for Wickremesinghe, it is past time for him to move beyond petty politicking. It is in his own interest to work with the SJB, JVP and TNA on issues of public interest. With the country in deep crisis, this is no time for a ‘sit and wait’ strategy. The response of the democratic opposition to the myriad failures of the Government must be one of stringent vigilance, relentless exposure of corruption and the articulation of an alternative vision for a democratic, pluralist and socially just Sri Lanka.

The three-time Prime Minister stands at a crossroads. He can play spoiler and irritant. Or he can rise above political instincts and contribute to forming a united opposition against an increasingly unpopular Government. History will judge him less harshly if he were to opt for the latter.