Colombo’s political convulsions

Wasantha Priya Ramanayake
Translated by A A M Nizam

“Tell them now that our children must be taken to those big schools. They may come from shanties and shacks.”

In this statement what was referred to as ‘big schools’ were schools such as Royal, Ananda, Nalanda, Vishaka, Devi Balika etc. What was referred to as our children were children of school going age from Gunasinghe Pura, Grandpass, Maligawatte, 60th Watta etc. This statement with a class-consciousness was neither made by a Communist nor a Samasamajist. It was made by former President Ranasinghe Premadasa to some of his officials. It was made immediately after his victory in the 1988 Presidential election.

From that time onwards the children of shanties as well as from low income families in Colombo also got the opportunity of studying in Super Schools in Colombo. Ordinary persons got Working Director posts in corporations. There were traders of Manning Market and St. Johns Fish Market among them. Some of the UNPers who were unhappy about it told their close friends to see how the ‘Working Directors’ of Premadasa’s were. It was Ranasinghe Premadasa who not by chance but by reality established a place for the ordinary man in the UNP. Through this measure he gave a message to the people of ordinary class, that truly I am a person of yours.

SLFP stalwarts

With the advent to the leadership of Ranasinghe Premadasa, the UNP which was termed as ‘Uncle Nephew Party’ became a party of the common man. It was the JR-Premadasa combine that made the UNP which was standing on its head to stand on its feet. It seems that there is no shanty and shack that was not visited by him. He turned the muddy area of Maligawatte into a new town. No shanty was dismantled without providing a house. Provided a place for even a betel seller to do his business and live in dignity. He personally interfered with Sirisena Cooray in some places to establish Lottery stands and newspaper planks in the Colombo city in an attractive manner.

Daily he met the people of Colombo at the ‘Sucharita’ house from 4 am onwards. The requirement of the person he met at 4 a.m. should have been fulfilled by 9 or 10 a.m. on the same day. Otherwise the relevant officers should find employment elsewhere. Some people received a message from Premadasa saying “I have done your work. Just find out if it has been done properly”.

President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s common man politics helped Colombo become an unshakable fortress of the UNP after some time. There were even born Leftists as well as SLFP stalwarts who voted for the UNP because of Premadasa. The reason was that he served the people without looking at party or colour.

This Ranasinghe Premadasa came into politics through the Colombo Municipal Council as a Municipal Councillor. Before that he was a well-known social worker in the St. Sebastian’s area in Gunasinghepura. A night school teacher who taught the children of the shanties free of charge, he was a pilot of the Temperance Movement. He was the founder of the Colombo Central Sri Sucharita Movement. He was also Premadasa Mahattaya that everybody spoke of with high respect. It seems that this Premadasa Chintanaya is no more in the UNP. It has become a museum piece that is taken out in commemoration and subsequently placed in a locker. Therefore, the elephant herd that was around him has now taken shelter near the Kurahan Satakaya adorned by Mahinda Rajapaksa. It seems that the Premadasa Chinthanaya and the Mahinda Chinthanaya have become almost parallel.

Media reports

Vijitha Kadiragonne is the person steering the Sri Sucharita Movement founded and built by Ranasinghe Premadasa in those days. He is a UNPer belonging to the category of ‘Green’ even if cut into pieces. He is a Municipal Member who represented the Colombo Central continuously. Kadiragonne did not leave the UNP despite Sirisena Cooray leaving the UNP.

This Vijitha Kadiragonne has been taken off the UNP list this time. He is contesting the elections under an independent list, after lighting a lamp to the Premadasa statue and cursing the injustice caused to him. Majority of them in his independent list are close associates of the Sri Sucharita Movement. Media reports said that even Sajith Premadasa was unable to get the current leader of his father’s movement included in the UNP list. They said that his demand was not even considered as worth a penny.

We do not know whether it was this Premadasa factor that made Imthiasz Bakeer Marker, well-known to Colombo Central, a humble politician, unsuitable for the candidature of Mayor for the Colombo Municipality. If Imthiasz obtained the candidateship and entered the Colombo fray it could have been a ‘very sorry’ situation for the UPFA.

Today people like those in the ilk of Imtiasz are at home. People like Kadiragonne have got isolated. Mano Ganeshan is fighting separately. Giant figures of the UNP, such as B. Sirisena Cooray’s son, Mohamed Mahroof and Milinda Moragoda are in the UPFA list.

B. Sirisena Cooray’s departure from the UNP cannot be underestimated. Cooray’s family were the stalwarts of the UNP in Colombo Central. It was Nandasena Cooray who brought Senanayakes to Colombo Central. Sirisena Cooray is his brother.

It was Sirisena Cooray who indulged in politics in Colombo Central as the shadow of Premadasa. He was also the General Secretary of the party. Those days there was no UNP in the Colombo Central without the combination of Premadasa-Sirisena. Therefore, it may not have been an easy task for Sirisena Cooray to take this decision. After him his son Manjula has been christened in politics under the shade of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He is contesting under the ‘betel leaf’ by discarding the elephant, under the United People’s Freedom Alliance. It seems that Cooray has rejected the UNP to that extent.

UNP bigwigs

Even the Moragoda family were UNP and not those of the left. Milinda Moragoda entered politics under the guidance of President Ranasinghe Premadasa. It was Milinda that President Premadasa sent to the United States and Europe to obtain garment quotas. Milinda was the giant figure who was behind the garment industries. He was also a member of the Janasavi Trust Fund. He was an unofficial economic advisor to President Premadasa. He was also involved in politics in Colombo Central. He was not a glossy character but a silent character.

Mohamed Mahroof was a shining character of the UNP in the Colombo Central during the Premadasa era. He was a person who carried out any task required by President Ranasinghe Premadasa. He was one of the persons who financially maintained the UNP in the recent past. It should be accepted without any argument that whatever he had earned he spent for the UNP.

All these characters are hanging onto the Kurahan Satakaya of President Mahinda Rajapaksa today. There is no reason for this number of UNP bigwigs to join the United People’s Freedom Alliance in a place that the UNP can win. It seems that the reason for this is the massive discontent existing about the UNP at present.

We do not know whether it was because of sidelining the common man and shelving the Premadasa methods and thinking in a disgusting manner.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa who had analyzed all these matters accurately, has been successful in including UNP stalwarts to the UPFA nomination list. It is the Premadasa policy-holder Milinda Moragoda that he has selected to lead the UPFA group for Colombo.