UNP at crossroads

Serious doubts emerged this week as to whether the major opposition United National Party (UNP) would be able to hold its official May Day rally. It had planned to hold its annual show in Jaffna, but doubts emerged whether members would attend. Thereafter the UNP leadership began to express fears about security issues.

Meanwhile the dissident Sajith Premadasa faction has said it will go ahead with a rally at Hulftsdorp to commemorate the death anniversary of Sajith’s father, President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

This commemoration may be taking on the appearance of a dissident-UNP May Day rally in opposition to the official UNP Jaffna rally. UNP dissident MP Maithri Gunaratne has requested ‘all those who want a strong Opposition’ to join the Premadasa commemoration.

May Day rivalry

And while Sajith said the commemoration was not a May Day rally, as was being claimed by some, he did say that supporters had the right to walk and to use cars and buses for their transportation, suggesting that some form of May Day march might take place.

Dudley Senanayake

SWRD Bandaranaike

Sir John Kotelawala

Underlying this May Day rivalry is a deep-seated division within the UNP, Sri Lanka’s fourth oldest surviving political party. From the beginning it was a coalition of diverse forces within the political elite: feudal land-owners, compradore traders and the nascent industrial bourgeoisie.

It encompassed a range of opinions, from the Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism of Neel Hewavitarne to the faux-Englishness of John Kotelawala, from ‘China Dicky’ (RG Senanayake) to ‘Yankee Dicky’ (JR Jayewardene).

After SWRD Bandaranaike departed with his mainly rural, petty-bourgeois and peasant following, the UNP consolidated itself around its core constituencies, with their disparate needs. Over the years, two competing, but complementary, threads emerged within the UNP - the foreign-biased, authoritarian JR Jayewardene strand and the more nationalist, more populist Dudley Senanayake strand.

Both these wings reflected the outlooks of their leaders. Dudley had natural charisma, arising from his charm and his genuine devotion to what he saw as the people’s needs. He was more easy-going and more tolerant of opposing opinions than his rival, and consequently more democratic. He could afford to be, as he was looked up to in the UNP as the natural leader.

Party constitution

JR, on the other hand, had little natural appeal. His claims to leadership were based on his manifold organizational skills. He was ruthless and controlling. After both the 1956 and 1970 landslide defeats, it was he who rebuilt the UNP; and it must have been galling to him that on both occasions, it was Dudley who seemed to profit from his hard work.

After Dudley’s passing, JR took the helm and remodelled and modernised the UNP - hitherto a loose collection of notables. He also incorporated part of Dudley’s populism in his newly-minted ideology. Unfortunately for the UNP, he also introduced a party constitution which gave all powers to the leader.

He was opposed by the group loyal to Dudley, led by Dudley’s (then formidable-looking) nephew Rukman Senanayake - but JR proved the stronger. Many of the populist (‘Janasammatavadi’) UNPers deserted the party, but the remainder coalesced around Ranasinghe Premadasa.

JR Jayewardene later - after becoming Executive President - rewarded Premadasa with the Premiership. Premadasa, for his part, deserted the democratic tradition of the Dudley wing, while retaining its populism.

It is this fundamental division which is at the root of the current UNP crisis. The dissident wing, grouped around Sajith, proclaims its populism and its bonds to Sinhalese nationalism. Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is JR’s nephew, retains the authoritarian basis of his uncle’s faction. At the same time, he also inherits a more cosmopolitan world-view, sadly untrammelled by the sensitiveness to indigenous culture and tradition which his uncle possessed.

Ranil’s ignorance of what is appropriate is revealed by the apparent invitation to the Tamil National Alliance to join the UNP May Day rally. This has been seized on by the Sajith wing, who also attack Ranil’s apparent dedication to the ‘13 plus’ option for devolution (i.e. more devolution than is currently granted under the 13th amendment to the constitution).

It is clear that the dissident-UNP is now going back to the core-values of the Dudley wing, of Sinhalese nationalism. While ideal as counterweights to Ranil’s Westernised globalisation principles, taken in isolation from their role in bringing balance to UNP policies, they can act in detriment to the country’s interest.

Foreign pressure

Sri Lanka is now at the crossroads. If a solution is not found for the island’s ethnic problems, there is a risk of groups exploiting ethnic feeling to re-ignite a conflict, which our people do not want and cannot afford.

When the Indian parliamentary delegation, currently on a fact-finding visit, said that only a political solution that satisfies the Tamil community within a united Sri Lanka would solve the problem, they were merely stating what should be obvious. Accepting this position is not tantamount to bowing to foreign pressure.

At the same time, the Tamils are not the only minority in the country. The needs of the other minorities, as well as the wishes of the majority Sinhalese, have to be catered to. The problem lies in balancing the multi-faceted wants and aspirations the aspirations of the ethnic groups which make up our population. Sri Lanka cannot be reduced to a confederation of ethnic Bantustans and still remain viable.

The government has opted for a Parliamentary solution to this problem. All ethnic groups and all parties represented in Parliament will thus have a say in coming to a consensus.

In this context, the UNP has a vital role to play and hence has to work out its ethnic policy. The UNP is also at the crossroads. It needs to get its act together, to sort out its internal disputes and ideological contests and get ready to go down the correct path. Otherwise, it will be consigned to the dustbin of history.