End of the road for Ranil and UNP?
M. M. Zuhair, P.C.,
Best known as the Grand Old Party, the UNP which had ruled this
country for the better half of post-independent Sri Lanka is folding up,
with clear signs of the party not wanting to record its 21st defeat in
political conflict.
It is a sad period for democracy in this country to witness the quiet
disintegration of one of Sri Lanka’s most formidable political parties
whose leader will not contest the upcoming Presidential elections.
Though die-hard party stalwarts would claim that their party will never
die but come back as a greater force under a retired Army General, the
truth is the party has dropped its leader and the leader has dropped the
UNP as the party, and worse, the party symbol the majestic elephant
would be seen no more!
General
Pervez Musharaff |
Nawaz Sheriff |
These are unprecedented negative records for a political party which
had always been at the helm of the country’s affairs, either in
Government or in the Opposition.
Maybe the UNP will not die but just fade away. What must be
remembered by all true democrats is that the country needs a strong
opposition for democracy to flourish. Can an Army General, whose
contribution to victory in the Government’s war against the LTTE is
significant, fill this void in a country with a long history of unbroken
civilian rule?
The last eight Provincial Council Elections have established nearly
63 percent or near 2/3rd majority of support to President Mahinda
Rajapaksa’s ruling UPFA. The last of the Provincial Elections, namely
the Southern Provincial Council Election was held less than six weeks
ago. Nothing has changed since then, in political terms of any
significance, except for the entry of Gen. Sarath Fonseka (SF) into
politics.
SF cannot be underestimated. Certain external forces through INGOs
and others are expected to subvert the electoral process through illegal
funding. The authorities and of course the ruling party would be fully
alert to possible bribery and corruption. External interferences in Sri
Lanka’s electoral process would be called to account through discreet
watch and transparent investigations.
SF can change the current equation marginally. President MR is likely
to be deprived of a 2/3rd majority of votes in the Presidential
elections. But he would win getting the highest majority any President
had previously obtained. That is because, notwithstanding Rauff Hakeem
or Mano Ganeshan, the minority votes, Tamil, Muslim, and Christian would
substantially shift away from SF to President MR.
Sri Lankans are an intelligent people. They would ask as to how SF
can join hands with those who fathered the ‘Eelam foetus’, the CFA? How
can he explain his tie-up with those who exposed the Army’s Deep
Penetration Unit at Millennium City, with terrible consequences for the
forces? Questions, there would be many more.
By joining hands with those perceived by the people of this country
as persons who supported the attempt to divide this country, this man
would only be polluting his name! The expected votes will not come,
though he will perform better than the outgoing UNP Leader Ranil
Wickremesinghe.
He cannot be unaware of the great fall from grace that he is risking,
in the eyes of the people merely because he could not have his way with
the President. The issues alleged to be in dispute with President
Rajapaksa are comparatively trivial! They are not worth any
confrontation with one’s Commander-in-Chief the elected President of the
country, who must surely have the last word on any issue! The country
expects such issues to be resolved without challenging the established
order or seeking to divide the majority votes.
The coming weeks will reveal whether SF has the support of external
forces wanting to dethrone President Rajapaksa. Intelligent people of
this country are fully aware of how the jackals step in when the
Johnnies fail. People know how these forces overthrew Mossaddiq, the
elected Prime Minister of Iran, as to who toppled President Sukarno of
Indonesia, how President Jaime Roldos of Ecuador followed by President
Omar Torrijos of Panama ended up in two separate fiery plane crashes,
both dying within two months of each other and of course, the rise and
fall of General Pervez Musharaff, following the overthrow of the elected
President Nawaz Sheriff.
Sri Lankans also know that the people of this country will never
tolerate puppets of any kind. But puppets are what these external forces
are looking for. This country has oil. Countries having oil have seen an
array of economic hit men (EHM) being employed by these forces. John
Perkins in his New York Times best-selling book Confessions of an
Economic Hit Man (2005 Edition), a self-confessed EHM, has this to say:
“Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly-paid professionals who cheat
countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel
money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID), and other foreign ‘aid’ organizations into the coffers of huge
corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the
planet’s natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial
reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex and murder. They play
a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying
dimensions during this time of globalization. I should know; I was an
EHM.”
Rigging elections is one of the mechanisms according to Perkins
employed by these forces. INGOs, NGOs and often journalists are well
known tools. One such former ‘journalist’ is today a full time employee
of an INGO engaged in Sri Lanka bashing in international fora. Two major
elections being lined up, forces inimical to the country’s interests in
the post-war process of consolidating the war victory, are likely to
raise their ugly head again. With Sri Lanka’s long tradition of duly
conducted elections, rigging would be a difficult task but subversion
through illegal funding would be a dangerous reality.
The writer is former Member of Parliament
Sri Lankans are an intelligent people. They
would ask as to how SF can join hands with those who fathered the ‘Eelam
foetus’, the CFA? How can he explain his tie-up with those who exposed
the Army’s Deep Penetration Unit at Millennium City, with terrible
consequences for the Forces? Questions, there would be many more |