SJB’s political debacles raise questions over future of leadership

The main Opposition SJB’s inability to secure the post of Mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) is another in a growing list of political failures on the part of its leader Sajith Premadasa. It was a council the SJB could have won outright at the elections without going through a rigorous deal-making process, but Premadasa, who insiders allege acts on the whims of a handful of those in his inner circle, failed to read the mood of the voters and reach a consensus with other Opposition parties to secure the council prior to the polls.

Having failed at that, the SJB got into an alliance with its sworn political opponents including the UNP and the SLPP in the hope it would win the council, the most important among all local government bodies in the country. That too proved a failure when the NPP pushed for a secret vote and defeated the SJB candidate handpicked by Premadasa.

On Tuesday CWC General Secretary and MP Jeevan Thondaman announced his Party is joining hands with the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) to form local government councils after the two sides reached a consensus on working together. His announcement on his social media account on X won’t do much to instil confidence in Premadasa’s leadership. Thondaman wrote that the CWC held several discussions with the NPP and the Opposition parties as well but despite the sincerity of the leader of the Opposition, the alliance partners seem to have a mind of their own. While pledging to continue to sit in Opposition, he said he would take the advice of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe with regard to the economy. Looking at the SJB debacle at the CMC and CWC joining with the NPP, it’s not hard to guess that Premadasa’s political nemesis and his onetime boss Wickremesinghe may have had a hand in ensuring the SJB leader loses face by attempting to get one of his men elected Mayor of Colombo. Already the whispers are growing louder and those within the SJB are speaking on the need for changes within it. Ironically Premadasa broke away from Wickremesinghe saying he has failed to implement reforms in the UNP and pave the way for others, but he now faces a similar situation where his authority is likely to be increasingly challenged.

Premadasa has been in Parliament for 25 years but lacks political acumen that is needed to lead the main Opposition party. In Parliament, he often misses the forest for the trees taking on trivial matters while letting the Government off lightly on many important issues. On Tuesday SJB MPs led by him walked out of the Chamber after the Government did not allow them to raise the Iran-Israel conflict at the start of the business of the day but yesterday an adjournment motion proposed by the SJB was scheduled but the MP assigned to move it was absent, another embarrassment for the SJB leader.

Wickremesinghe, though way past his prime in politics, still has a few tricks up his sleeve hence given by the recent upsets that the SJB leader has been facing, it is obvious a lot is going on which Premadasa has seen unable to grasp. Premadasa used every opportunity to condemn and ridicule Ranil Wickremesinghe for taking the support of the Rajapaksa-controlled SLPP to become president but now the SLPP has suddenly become an ally to take control of local bodies which also undermines him. His pledge not to join hands with ‘thieves’ has gone out of the window in the face of political necessities.

Politics is about playing the long game and the SJB’s conduct in the aftermath of the Local Government elections has been politically suicidal. The NPP should have been allowed to run the councils in which they were the single largest party. Sitting in Opposition is not a bad thing for a political party. It gives more opportunities to make political gains than gaining power through bad alliances.

Premadasa’s future as the leader of the SJB will be decided by those within his party, but this kind of political mess-ups will not win over voters. A leadership change may be the best for the party as well as the country to take on a Government that is fast going off track.