Columns

This column has over the past several weeks highlighted the fact that there is a great deal of confusion among the public about how politics is being played out in the country. The absence of clarity will not make the task of the voter any easier in what has been dubbed an election year.

Reports of mushrooming alliances springing up among unlikely allies without being tied to a clear programme or policy is one manifestation of such confusion. The key figures of the post-2019 period who were responsible for crashing the economy now attempting to pose off as the ones who can pull the country out of the mess that they created is another feature of this confusion. One example of such transformation is the case of Nalaka Godahewa widely reported to be one of the leading figures in the Viyath Maga movement which fashioned SLPP policies during the Gotabaya Rajapaksa presidency. 

The traditional media, together with social media, continuously fan the flames that create such confusion. Many of these media reports are highly speculative and often have no basis in fact. The report that former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga had been appointed to lead the United Peoples Freedom Alliance is another such confusing report.

It took a media release from the ex-President’s office to quash such reports. Another speculative report doing the rounds is that the Government is contemplating a referendum in order to test public opinion on whether the executive presidency should be abolished, without the slightest indication as to where such a proposal, if true, originated.

Many such news reports are the work of individual journalists or social media bloggers bent on generating sensationalism which is in turn picked up by others of their ilk. Other similar speculative stories are often deliberate plants which are designed to create mischief and mayhem within the ranks of their political opponents.

But what is most surprising is that even active politicians fall prey to confusion or are unable to read the implications of what is happening around them.

A case in point is the complaint made to the media last week by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera about the Government’s decision to finalise technical level talks on the proposed Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India before the end of March this year.

Mr Weerasekera took issue with the fact that the Government parliamentary group had not been consulted before resumption of talks on ETCA. Drawing attention to a recent statement made by Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena, regarding the status of ETCA negotiations, Parliamentarian Weerasekera said that such a far-reaching agreement shouldn’t be finalised without proper consultations.

Mr Weerasekera further pointed out that the two countries suspended talks on ETCA in 2018 following a spate of protests spearheaded by the SLPP.

He drew attention to the fact that Sri Lanka resumed talks on ETCA only after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted in July 2022. The Colombo District Parliamenarian declared that the UNP leader, elected by Parliament to complete the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term, shouldn’t have resumed talks on ETCA under any circumstances.

He also called upon the SLPP to state its position on ETCA without delay, and President Ranil Wickremesinghe not to exploit the continuing political, economic and social crisis to advance his agenda.

However, clearly Sarath Weeraskera has missed out on a few matters. The first is that when Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected President with the support of the SLPP, he was given pretty much a blank cheque with no prior agreement entered into with regard to the policies that he would have to follow during his presidency.

The fact that the SLPP approves the policies currently pursued by President Ranil Wickremesinghe is evident from the statements made by senior SLPP ministers who have publicly endorsed his actions, and in fact pledged to support him in the event he decides to contest the Presidential Elections.

The Cabinet, which in its entirety comprises SLPPers other than the President, has also approved the decision to pursue ETCA negotiations.

But the most significant point that has escaped the attention of Sarath Weerasekera and other SLPPers (who probably do not have any objection anyway) is that the policies that President Ranil Wickremsinghe is following are policies of the United National Party (UNP) and not of the SLPP.

This has been confirmed, if confirmation is indeed necessary, by the Chairman of the UNP Vajira Abeywardene during a media briefing held at the Presidential Media Centre on January 16.

Parliamentarian Abeywardena said that it is the United National Party’s manifesto that was rejected by the people in 2020 that is presently being implemented for the greater good of the country and suggested that all politicians in the country familiarise themselves with its contents.

The UNP Chairman also went on to say that President Ranil Wickremesinghe had succeeded in attracting global attention due to his efforts in steering the country from the brink of crisis to a path of development within a short span of one and a half years. He had effectively utilised the foreign trips he made to personally meet and garner the support of many heads of states during these visits according to the UNP Chairman.

(javidyusuf@gmail.com).