Let’s walk a mile in Premadasa’s shoes!

The late President Ranasinghe Premadasa had the knack to select the right man for the right job

For the working class Premadasa ‘is’ still a hero as much as Prabakaran once ‘was’ in the north. Both these names have been erased from the minds of the people to some extent by politicians through shrewd propaganda

The people who had bettered their lives under Premadasa’s rule outnumbered those who suffered because of a UNP administration

A good number of people didn’t like late President Ranasinghe Premadasa. That was because of his dictatorial ways. When Premadasa ruled the portion of the country under the control of Government security forces Tiger Leader Prabakaran ruled the rest of the island. When both Premadasa and Prabakaran died their demises were celebrated by the people with rounds of milk rice and by lighting firecrackers. 

When May Day dawned this year many pieces were penned on Premadasa because the great leader perished on a day where the working class labourers are remembered. For the working class Premadasa ‘is’ still a hero as much as Prabakaran once ‘was’ in the north. Both these names have been erased from the minds of the people to some extent by politicians through shrewd propaganda over the years. 

During the times of both these leaders the country was undergoing change; the government was doing it officially while the LTTE was forcing its culture on the people. 

The war was raging in the north despite a brief ceasefire silencing the guns on both sides; thanks to an Indian intervention. 

But in the face of great uncertainty and costs incurred in fighting a civil war Premadasa worked on his election promises ‘to eliminate poverty and make people able and affluent’. 

He gave opportunities to people to earn and stand on their feet. The garment factories he initiated blossomed. He hated ‘naysayers’. The results to talk about among many other success stories in the garment sector was Sri Lanka being able to penetrate the UK market; tee shirts with the made in Sri Lanka label were displayed at Marks and Spencer clothes shops.

Despite Premadasa working tirelessly to make Sri Lanka prosper the educated UNPers opposed him. He slept little and worked during most of the day. When his detractors were awake they merely concentrated on pulling the carpet from under his feet. If Premadasa survived all that animosity it was because of eternal vigilance and having more than one way of winning his battles. Premadasa successfully squashing an impeachment motion brought against him in 1991 is one of the highlights in his political career. People might not believe in witchcraft and voodoo in modern times. But there is a story about Premadasa asking for a photograph of Prabakaran just before he attended his last May Day rally. The purpose was to send it to an witchdoctor who practised Malayalam voodoo in South India with the purpose of casting an evil spell on the terrorist leader. What must be noted here is his will to look for several ways to destroy his detractors more than the efficiency of voodoo. 

However for those who worked along with him several doors opened up to escape from poverty. Sometimes these opportunities were created for the people by Premadasa’s subordinates. 

Just prior to an election in1989 Premadasa jolted the political stage with the poster ‘Who is this? What is he doing?’. The letters in poster were hand written before the template was made. An  A/Level student by the name Saman Priyankara (source Sunday Mawbima) was entrusted with this part of the creation and he was paid handsomely for his efforts. The man behind the advertising campaign was Gerrard Santiago. The people who had bettered their lives under Premadasa’s rule outnumbered those who suffered because of a UNP administration. 
He managed India’s influence on Sri Lanka efficiently. True that he had to be aggressive enough till the India Peace Keeping Force vacated the Sri Lankan shores. 

Premadasa had to burn midnight oil to plan his country’s future. The potential was there in Premadasa from the beginning to climb the rungs of the political ladder. When he started being the organizer of the Sucharitha Movement in 1939 he was just 15 years old. From being a member of the CMC he became its deputy mayor. But once he was chosen as the UNP Leader the barrage of brickbats thrown at him increased in an unprecedented manner. Being attacked as a person from a low caste was a punch thrown at him from under the belt. This same criticism was aimed at terrorist leader Prabakaran too. Those who followed these two leaders were mostly from the downtrodden classes. There was progress in the Wanni and separately in government controlled areas. The LTTE even operated a bank and its currency was circulating in the north, according to old war reports appearing in newspapers. Colombo and the South flourished due to the vision of Premadasa. The Government of Sri Lanka paid a huge price in the civil war by losing willing and able men. President Premadasa was one such personality. Prabakaran was one step ahead in that battle for Eelam. Premadasa perished due to an explosion triggered by tiger rebels on May 1, 1993. 

Premadasa had the obsession of wanting to be seen in the presence of large gatherings. Prabakaran knew the areas where a VIP should never set foot in. One time marketing director of Nokia, India Viral Oza said that ‘people have always been visual creatures’. Premadasa loved pictures of crowds and was often unsettled when large crowds attended rallies of opponents. Premadasa perished because he rated maintaining popularity ahead of focusing on his own security. However his astrologers, who still live and grant newspaper interviews, have maintained that Premadasa knew about his impending death before the year 1993 arrived. 

Premadasa worked in a manner where he gave a message that people would be employed on merit rather than on ones race. 

Several decades later his son Sajith, who was a presidential candidate, and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the eventual winner of that vital poll, have both given this same message. But the three main races in the country are still at loggerheads. It’s good if the present day lawmakers can learn a lesson from Premadasa’s way of selecting the right man for the right job, regardless of race or religion. Premadasa was more concerned about the potential a divided country has to pull a nation down rather than concentrating on a civil war and winning the war against terrorism.