The new Opposition

A robust democracy needs an effective opposition. ‘Effective’ is wrongly read as the success rate in attempts at derailing. In other words, some people think, erroneously, that it is only if the Opposition can throw sand in the wheels of the Government that it deserves the tag ‘effective’.

I am not talking about a kakulen adina (tripping) Opposition but one which knows when to and how to praise and how to blame, when and how to support and when and how to criticize one which upholds the finest traditions of Parliamentary democracy, is responsible and never ever compromises national interest for petty political gain. Yes, I am not talking about the present-day UNP. I can’t talk about that party in these terms.

Decisive victory

The UNP. That’s the ‘United National Party’. The name sounds incongruous given that there has been very little ‘national’ in its ideology and actions in recent times, that there is very little unity and that the machinery is in a woeful state of disrepair. Anyway, like in the aftermath of other resounding electoral defeats, there seems to be some efforts at reform in the ‘party’. There’s talk of the Constitution being amended and some changes at the top. It’s been more than a month since the UPFA scored the most decisive victory under the present Constitution. Reform takes time, but the more time it takes, the less momentum there is for the reformists. They appear to be running out of steam.

What we are seeing, ladies and gentlemen, is Ranil Wickremesinghe at his best. He has brought into play his considerable skills at pitting one opponent against the other, using to maximum effect every seemingly insignificant clause and caveat of the party Constitution and the imagination, creativity and visualizing power that gives him overall insight no one in the party can even hope to match.

A few weeks ago many in the UNP, especially those who haven’t read the party constitution and are naive about things political, felt that Sajith Premadasa was about to be crowned leader.

Ballot boxes

I personally think his time has not come. I think it’s time that Ranil went and that a stop-gap leader, Karu Jayasuriya or Rukman Senanayake would be the best option until Sajith comes of age. It won’t happen. As for Sajith, his path is not as clear as some may have thought it was. Indeed, I believe he’s got his basics wrong with respect to assuming party leadership. The ‘basics’ lie with the Executive Committee and this is something everyone seems to have forgotten.

All it takes is a meeting of the Executive Committee where someone makes a ‘State of the Party’ address. Someone other than Ranil Wickremesinghe, that is. What happened, how it happened, why it happened, who made it happen (‘happen’ can be replaced by ‘did not happen’ where appropriate) etc will yield such an indictment of Wickremesinghe that a vote would oust him. Ballot boxes can be brought before hand to be used if necessary, just like J R Jayewardene did in order to resolve the question of who the UNP’s Deputy Leader should be. On that occasion, Ranasinghe Premadasa prevailed over other aspirants.

It looks like Sajith (like other aspirants) wants to take the short cut. He should understand that given political realities, unless Ranil Wickremesinghe makes a monumental and uncharacteristic blunder (he reserves such slips in altercations with other parties and not with same-party rivals), the ‘cut’ would be nothing less that Ranil Wickremesinghe’s death. The necessarily long cut is one that involves canvassing the party’s rank and file and especially those in the Executive Committee. No one is interested in doing this. I am not going to feel sorry for them.

The point is that the nation cannot wait until Sajith Premadasa or someone else in the UNP gets his/her act together. We need an Opposition. I was wondering when and where we will get one, when the answer literally fell from the sky (I am assuming that short text messages fly through the air from one phone to another).

Presidential Election

Now I am not a horoscope-checking type. I don’t know enough about astrology or palmistry and therefore reserve comment on their predictive power, except to say that they are as off-the-mark as the Meteorological Department and other entities that preface prediction with ‘science-assertion’.

A friend, one who is concerned about my allegedly crazy ways (I think I am perfectly sane) asked me for my birthday and birth time. He sent me a message a short while ago. I will spare the jargon and references to Saturn and such. This is the gist:

‘Keep a low profile until May 28, 2012. It would be best if you leave the country. Things change dramatically after 2017.’

I called him and asked about 2017. He said ‘deshapaalanayata enna wenava’ (you will have to enter politics). I laughed. I related this to some friends at Phoenix Ogilvy a short while later and while doing so realized two things: a) no one is made to enter politics unless it is for the top job and b) there will be a Presidential Election in 2017. I blurted out that this is what was being predicted. My friends, generous to a fault and all in the Creative Department of this advertising agency, told me that I should start campaigning right now. Here’s my response:

‘No. My campaign will be a 100 percent non-campaign. The most powerful are those who do not want power.’

A few minutes later, the boss, Irvin Weerakkody turns up. I repeat the story. Irvin is one of the most gifted communicators in the business. He immediately said, ‘Can we also not campaign for you?’ We all laughed.

I am not interested in political office (and no, this is not part of the above non-campaign!). I know how and when to laugh and I know when to be serious. I am serious. We need an Opposition. We have for years thought ‘Opposition’ refers to the party with the second largest presence in Parliament. WRONG. Sarath Muttetuwegama, as I have mentioned on several occasions, was a one-man Opposition for years in the eighties. He was far more effective than Ranil and the UNF Parliamentary Group.

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