(MENAFN- Colombo Gazette) By N Sathiya Moorthy
In his Hajj message last week, President Ranil Wickremesinghe called upon all Sri Lankans to remain 'united in a common cause to achieve our domestic, regional and global goals'. Yet, a day later, his leadership was seen as having split the political Opposition over the domestic debt restructuring issue in Parliament, indicating that there is a long gap between his pious preaching and cold practices, as with all those before him.
Parliament voted 122-62 with abstentions and absentees adding up to a high 40. With Speakerr Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, the number adds up to the grand total of 225. Significantly, at least four non-government MPs who had either been wavering in the past weeks or had expressed support for the Ranil leadership voted for the resolution.
Among them, Vadivel Suresh, A H M Fowsie and Kumar Welagama were with the Opposition SJB combine until not very long ago. Non-government MPs John Seneviratne, Duminda Dissanayake, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa and Dr Sudharshini Fernandopulle seemingly indicated their willingness to return to the government side, though it remains to be seen if they would rejoin the SLPP underwriter of this dispensation, or directly sign in for Ranil's UNP.
Absentees galore
It was the list of absentees that made even greater reading. It included, yes, at least three of the four Rajapaksa clan members in Parliament, namely, Mahinda, elder brother Chamal and son Namal. Surely, they all necessarily did not have engagements elsewhere, all at once. However, their MPs voted with the government – again flagging the question on the SLPP leadership – if it's still the Rajapaksas or Ranil Wickremesinghe.
From among the Opposition SJB parliamentarians, Rajitha Senaratne, Mayantha Dissanayake, Rohini Kaviratne and Mano Ganesan, stayed away. Of them, Mano was in India, in southern Tamil Nadu. It is not impossible that his weekend schedule had been fixed long before the special session was fixed to vote on domestic debt restructuring.
Then, there were the Tamil MPs, barring four who either stayed away or voted with the government. Minister Douglas Devananda's EPDP belong in the second list. But what surprised constituents back home was the noticeable absence of TELO's Selvam Adaikalanathan and Jana, and also PLOTE's Sidharthan. Of them, Selvam again is in faraway China, as a part of a delegation hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Colombo.
From among the majority ITAK members, R Sampanthan stayed away, owing to age-related ailments and with the possible conviction that his vote was anyway not going to change the House verdict. Another party member, Charles Nirmalanathan, too, could not participate, owing to 'personal reasons', it was said. With the result, only four ITAK members, namely, Sritharan, Sumanthiran, Sanakyan and Kalaiarasan voted against the resolution, 'on Sampanthan's instructions'.
From among the Tamil parties, former Northern Province chief minister C V Wigneswaran too stayed away. This is not the first time he too is doing it on issues where the government either wanted a win and/or a wide margin of victory. The choice was between the government getting embarrassed and he being embarrassed back in his electorate. Wise Wigneswaran chose the second option.
Interestingly, Angajan Ramanathan, the only candidate to be elected under the parent SLFP name and symbol in the 2019 parliamentary elections, too, abstained. Others, including former President and party boss Maithripala Sirisena, were all elected on the breakaway SLPP ticket – which they have since conveniently distanced from. That way, Sirisena too was away in the North, on a three-day visit, which he seemed not wanting to postpone when Parliament was debating and voting on a very live issue. If it had anything to do with the unending 'Easter blasts' probe and the like, no one mentioned it.
Economic morass
That way, even JVP's Anura Kumara Dissanayake, popularly known as AKD, was not in Parliament to vote on the DDR, the short form for 'domestic debt restructuring'. He was in Australia.
In a news conference, JVP's Sunil Haddunneti has pointed out how DDR has targeted only Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and has left 'government cronies' like private bond-holders and primary dealers, untouched. SLPP's Namal endorsed the point outside Parliament, when he told a rural audience how the domestic debt restructuring should be 'fair'. If the trend and mood continues, then Ranil too can forget the next presidential poll.
After all, employees, both in the public and private sectors, constitute a substantial number in terms of the nation's voters. In putting a ball-mark figure for their numbers, political parties and electoral analysts too forget a main point. For every employee, again in the public sector or private, there are three or four – at times even more – dependent persons back home, who also have voting rights.
And in the case of the public sector employees, they are already a harassed lot, a threatened lot, the latter in terms of job-security. It went through the window when economic crisis walked in through the open door. Though no one is talking about loss of jobs, the way the government granted five-year leave without pay for them to take up jobs outside the country and send in forex, had a message of its own. Reports also have it where Government doctors and fresh medical graduates too are scooting to greener, rather, secured pastures.
Straight, simple
For the Rajapaksas especially the question is straight and simple. If the Rajapaksas have approved of this or any earlier resolution on debt or other issues, economic or political, in discussions with the Ranil leadership, then they should have no reservations to vote for the same. If not, they should have the courage to tell their MPs to vote against it or abstain – and face the consequences, including yet another split, if it came to that.
For all intents and purposes, the next presidential election is going to be Ranil's election. Rather, the incumbent will be the issue, and people will be asked to vote for or against Ranil, assuming that he sticks by his current decision to contest. It is like the Mahinda-centric elections of the past years, in this century, from 2005 to 2020.
Of course, Ranil also has the wonderful knack of finding a scapegoat, if he is unsure of victory, especially when he could bow out more honourably as the 'nominated' President who turned out the economy in a short span. The could be the likes of Sarath Fonseka in post-war 2010 polls, who was anyway expected to lose and also lost to incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa. In 2015, the choice of Sirisena to take on Mahinda was not Ranil's choice, and Sirisena won.
Accept or oppose
For some more time, the Rajapaksas can forget fielding a candidate of their own for the presidency, especially another Rajapaksa, say, Namal in this case. Basil used to be an option for a brief while but he seems to be more interested in retaining his dual citizenship in the U S, which is a thankful disqualification for contesting the nation's presidency, here in Sri Lanka.
Either the Rajapaksas have to accept that Ranil is there candidate, and their best option at the moment, or should start distancing themselves from him, if they felt otherwise. They cannot continue to hunt with the hound and run with the hare, and expect the people to trust them, especially when their stock is already very, very low. It is a difficult decision to take, but they will need to take it before it became too late – which it is already.
Incidentally, the SLPP counts on him as the chief strategist and organizer, and expects the voters to trust that theirs is a more 'nationalist party' than any other. This is especially so when Mahinda's own stock has tumbled, brother Gota having taken down it along with his own, what with the Aragalaya protests forcing his exit from the presidency.
(The writer is a policy analyst & political commentator, based in Chennai, India. Email: )