The UNP and the joys of the ‘warm-up’
On Saturday, September 12, 2009, Sri Lanka beat India by 139 in a
day-night ODI cricket match at the R.Premadasa Stadium. Spectacular
batting performances by Sanath Jayasuriya (98) and Thilina Kandamby (91
not out), followed by an amazing spell by Angelo Matthews (6 for 20 off
6 overs) and neat work behind the stumps by Kumar Sangakkara (4
spectacular catches) elicited the following observation from Indian
captain, M.S. Dhoni:
“It was the worst day for us. We didn’t start well neither in bowling
nor in batting. The Sri Lankans started very well. Sanath (Jayasuriya)
along with Dilshan gave them the perfect start with the bat and then
Angelo Mathews came good with the ball.”
The most pertinent sum-up was this, however: “The only thing that
went well for us was the ‘warm up’ before the game.”
The Indian captain’s sum-up was right on the money and even the most
ardent fan of Indian cricket would not disagree, I am sure. I had
already forgotten the comment but was reminded of it on Monday morning
when I read in the newspapers that UNP’s General Secretary, Tissa
Attanayake, had vowed to topple the Rajapaksa Government within three
months.
Politicians are full of promises, this is generally known. Tissa, to
his credit, had inserted a caveat to cover possible embarrassment later:
‘this would depend on a UNP victory at the forthcoming elections to the
Southern Provincial Council’. That’s like a bank saying ‘We will give
all account-holders Rs. 100,000 regardless of the value of their
accounts or status on loan repayment, PROVIDED that the Government does
away with taxation.’ It would be like the USA saying ‘we will cease all
operations at Guantanamo Bay and return the island to its legitimate
owner, Cuba, PROVIDED that we find evidence of water on the sun’. In
short, it is a safe prediction.
The nice thing about the UNP and elections (going by the track record
of that party since 2004) is the run-up, the campaign. At least in a
relative sense. The aftermath has been pretty dismal; defeat, defeatism,
call for the leader to resign, internal strife and a smothering of
dissent by Ranil Wickremesinghe, swatting one and all with the party
constitution.
The warm-up, then, goes well. Lofty ideals are spelled out. Ambitious
predictions are mouthed at every turn. Grand pronouncements are made
about the great future that awaits the voters in the event that the UNP
wins (‘you will all be crowned kings’). The promise-balloon, the
prediction-bubble and other air-filled things get pricked, deflated, on
election-day. Nothing clicks.
To begin with, the UNP is on the backfoot, as all opposition parties
tend to be given the realities of the 1978 Constitution and a general
climate of apathy on the part of the public. In addition, the UNP has,
especially under Ranil Wickremesinghe, developed a penchant to go
fishing at deliveries that pitch off a good length and leave the
batsman, resulting in snicks that are gleefully gobbled up behind the
stumps. Faulty stroke play has been the bane of that party in recent
times. In political parlance what we have seen in a remarkable ability
on the part of the party leadership to say the wrong thing at the wrong
time at the wrong place.
When Zimbabwe or a non-Test-playing nation takes on Australia,
everyone knows the result before hand. Excellent bowling will always
find the best batsmen of these countries struggling. Skilled batsmen
will take apart the best bowlers of such teams. This is expected.
It is one thing to be castled by a peach of a delivery and quite
another to get out to a scandalously careless stroke or to get run out.
It is one thing to be hit for six by Sanath Jayasuriya because you gave
him that extra one inch of space outside the off stump and quite another
to offer him a full toss on the leg side. There is no dishonour in the
former; the latter is unpardonable.
This is the problem of the UNP. The popularity of the President, the
euphoria of the defeat of the LTTE and the anomalies embedded in the
Constitution that work against the opposition are realities that the UNP
can’t do much about. There is no reason to self-destruct though.
There is a reason why the UNP can only enjoy the ‘warm-up’. India can
and will bounce back. Sooner or later. The reason is that there is a
willingness to engage in self-criticism and correct flaws. Not so the
UNP.
In a sense, then, Tissa Attanayake is doing his best: enjoying the
warm-up.
If the UNP is happy with that consolation prize, that says a lot
about the direction that party is heading, election-wise: nowhere.
Malinda Seneviratne is a freelance writer who can be contacted at
[email protected]. |