12 December 2019 01:36 am Views - 1012
A winner fulfills his contract with the world and with himself. That is, he sets out to do something, says that he is committed to doing it, and in the long run does it
- Eric Berne
After days of feet-dragging, indecision and procrastination, the United National Party (UNP), at its parliamentary group meeting on Thursday, December 6, unanimously appointed the party’s former deputy leader Sajith Premadasa as the Leader of the Opposition having heeded to the choice of a majority of its MPs. The party, which was in government till the November 16 presidential election has now been consigned to the Opposition in the wake of its defeat by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Mr. Premadasa’s name was proposed by former prime minister and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who by the way had a long stint as opposition leader from 1994 till 2015 excluding the years 2002 to 2004 and 2015 to 2019 when he held the post of prime minister even coming to be known as the longest-serving opposition leader in Sri Lanka.
As highlighted in our editorial last Thursday, what transpired at the UNP headquarters, Sri Kotha was an exact replay of the events that led to Mr. Premadasa being finally named as the UNP presidential candidate resulting in his having to launch his presidential election campaign months after current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had a head start of a couple of months having by then launching a well-coordinated campaign.
UNP General Secretary and MP, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, who had earlier written to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya informing him that Mr. Wickremesinghe was the party’s choice for the post of Opposition Leader, in a fresh letter to the Speaker, immediately after Thursday’s meeting, informed him that the party had unanimously approved the nomination of Mr. Premadasa to the post.
On being named as the Opposition Leader by the UNP, which holds the most number of seats in Parliament, Mr. Premadasa assured the United National Front (UNF) parliamentary group that he would uphold and strengthen the unity among all members and function as a strong Leader of the Opposition.
Be that as it may, according to media reports, the simmering leadership crisis in the UNP has still not been resolved with the MPs, who pushed for Mr. Premadasa`s appointment as Opposition Leader, continuing to insist that he be also appointed as party leader so that with an infusion of young blood, the party could be revived, renewed and revamped so as to successfully contest the general elections most likely to be held in April.
It was more than evident at the presidential election campaign that Sajith Premadasa had inherited the oratorical skills and the charisma which were characteristic of his father Ranasinghe Premadasa, himself a former prime minister and president. Sajith Premadasa was first elected to parliament in 2000 and served as deputy minister of health from 2001 to 2004 and in 2011 was appointed as the party`s deputy leader, from which post he resigned soon after he lost the November 16 presidential election.
Meanwhile, the UNP has no time to lose to get its act together so as to function as a strong Opposition amid government plans to revisit the entirety of the 19th Amendment instead of the sections or clauses which have shortcomings or weaknesses? At this point it needs to be underscored that the 19th Amendment, which to some extent diluted or reduced the powers of the Executive President, saw its passage into the statute books with more than a two-third majority, after being approved by 215 parliamentarians on both sides of the House voting in favour, one voting against, one abstaining and seven absenting themselves at the time of voting.
We need a strong Opposition to stem or curb any surreptitious move to return to the dark era of the 18th Amendment, which granted the then President un-fettered powers and an unrestricted tenure or stay in office. Should such an eventuality result -- due to the absence of a strong and vigilant Opposition functioning as a bulwark to curb such attempts by the government -- the ramifications may be severe.
The choices people made on November 16 will no doubt have their attendant consequences, whether good, bad or ugly with the people having to live with them; but as Nazi death-camp survivor Dr. Viktor E. Frankel pointed out, the power to respond or choose one’s attitude to a given situation resides within us.