Reviving the UNP

A responsible and a vibrant Opposition is a necessary pre requisite in a democracy and especially in a parliamentary democracy. The UNP, Sri Lanka's Opposition party or the government in waiting has been experiencing a steep decline in its popularity rating and this has become increasingly obvious during the past few years.

The UNP vote bank that registered a healthy 47 percent in 2005 is today down to a pitiable 22 percent, a rate that would hardly make the government in power take notice of. A very poor alternative to a very popular government and thus at present, the Opposition in Sri Lanka is more a government in hibernation than a government in waiting. Therefore, the biggest threat to democracy in Sri Lanka, if at all if there is a threat at present, should emanate, not from any activity or legislation of the government in power but rather from the inability of the country's Opposition to live up to the expectation of an alternative to the government in power.

Of course, there are some aspersions cast every now and then about the heavily one-sided nature of the presidential system and also about the fairness of the pre and post poll activity. The presidential system after all is UNP's own making but yet a careful study of the elections held since 1978 would reveal that even this 'one sided' presidential system cannot sustain an unpopular government in power. Further the UNP cannot blame the Commissioner of Elections when in defeat because it is under the same Commissioner of Elections that the UNP registered victories in 1989 and in 2002.

International market

Therefore, as responsible citizens concerned with the country's long- term interest and the democratic way of life, we should all focus our attention more on the UNP and its misdemeanors than on the government and its allege shenanigans.

The United National Party was formed in 1945 to usher independence and with that democratic politics as a means of governance to Sri Lanka, then Ceylon. The British were in a hurry to leave Ceylon as they saw the 'troubles in India' and the communist/socialist take over of the marginalized populations in the world as bad omens for their empire.

Fruits of independence

Thus they made the best out of what was available and converted the Ceylon National Congress into a political party to take over power on their exit. The British had changed the entire socio-economic fabric of the 'Singhaley' they baptized as 'Ceylon' after 400 years of colonialism and in 1948 it was a more a plantation company that met the raw material requirements of the international market than a country of people.

Having being subject to 'divide and rule' for centuries Ceylon at independence looked more like an estate where division of labour was the order of the day but now without the British master who hitherto coordinated all that.

DS however was equal to the task and he picked up the best of what the British had left and the best of indigenous thinking to steer clear that crucial period of transformation.

The UNP projected an image of being the only practical political movement that was capable of leading the country into its future but with the demise of DS the party became a victim of its own elitism.

The UNP however as a political force was lagging behind in meeting aspirations of a populace that was yearning to enjoy the fruits of independence after 400 years of colonialism and this has remained a bug bare of the party that was essentially formed to protect the interest and the status quo of the pre independent ruling clan of independent Ceylon.

Dudley Senanayake nevertheless was able to give a human face to the UNP policies and prevent the party from being left out in a world political environment that was largely socialist oriented.

Foreign policy

JR Jayewardene however was the most fortunate UNP leader for he took over the reigns of the rightist/ Western oriented political party at a time the world was showing signs of weariness with socialist economies in the late 70's. Although calculative and ambitious, JR was an extremely practical man with his ears to the ground. JR's consumer oriented policies with heavy reliance on the service sector were popular to win him a second term but yet myopic enough to push the country into differences with India and with that an ethnic imbroglio.

More than economics the JR period drove home the unmistakable message that emerging nations cannot rely on the West for their wherewithal. Traditionally we have been Western and we supported Britain even in their Falkland crisis, but the West looked the other way when India chose to teach its little neighbour a lesson in foreign policy. Further the West has been extremely hostile to us when we tried to extricate ourselves from the menace of terrorism.

Premadasa's UNP was essentially a populist UNP but yet by choice or by chance the fact is that there was room in the UNP for a man from the common stock. The problem with Ranil is that he is neither a pragmatic like his uncle JR nor a populist like his predecessor Premadasa.

With his policies and practices Ranil has made it plain that he is the most Western inclined politician of Sri Lanka since independence. This posture of the leader, at a time when the West is supportive of the Tamil immigrant lobby, and also at a time when the Western economies are cracking up, would be more of a liability than an asset to the UNP. The question then is, is the UNP a spent political force or could we still revive it to answer the call of the democratic opposition?

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