The building of a political force for the benefit of the country

30th death anniversary of Gamini Dissanayake

My father had the guts and the courage to face everything that was thrown at him

President Premadasa’s cabinet was a mediocre one bringing in yes men and lackeys to key positions of power

October 24 marks the 30th anniversary of my father’s death. It was a on a day like today on that fateful night when the LTTE assassinated one of the most dynamic and accomplished politicians this country produced. This article is written with the intention of commemorating him. Given the recent political developments and the victory of the NPP I would like to concentrate on a lesser appreciated feat of him. He is credited with giving leadership towards the completion of the Mahaweli development programme, obtaining test status to Sri-lanka at cricket, offering swarnabhoomi land deeds to people and the Indo-lanka accord of 1987. However a lesser-known aspect is the key role he played in the formation of the Democratic United National Front with Late Lalith Athulathmudali.

Context and background

The background to this was the growing dissension in the UNP leadership against the Incumbent President Ranasinghe Premadasa. President Premadasa was elected as the President in late 1988 in what was a very violent election. The Deshavimukthi Janata Viyaparaya killed a large amount of SLFP and UNP supporters who braved the odds and engaged in politics.This was against the Indo-lanka accord of 1987. Although there were many differences about who should be the presidential candidate, the party united behind President Premadasa who was ahead in seniority of both my father and Athulathmudali, popular among the people and deserving to be the presidential candidate. His strong anti-accord sentiments made him more acceptable to the nationalistic core of the electorate.What happened after his victory shattered the unity of the grand old party. President Premadasa’s cabinet was a mediocre one bringing in yes men and lackeys to key positions of power.The Prime Ministership which he obtained through a ballot was denied to my father and Athulathmudali. As far my father was concerned he was stripped of his cabinet ministry of plantation industries in 1990.That is part of politics, one takes the highs and lows. My father left for Cambridge University in 1990 to do his MPhil in International Relations. What happened next was a political vendetta never seen in the political history of this country. False criminal charges were bought against him for abducting Ralph Buultjens.The whole country knew that this was politically inspired to politically marginalize and destroy my father. In the end it came to nothing as a brave judge Unamboowe did not bend under pressure and acquitted my father of charges against him. My father had the guts and the courage to face everything that was thrown at him. So in the beginning of 1991 the inner cream of the UNP was divided. My father and Athulathmudali started having a political dialogue and sank their differences for the good of the country. They brought an impeachment motion against president Premadasa under article 38(2) of the constitution. This motion was earlier “entertained” by Speaker M.H Mohomed but later “de-entertained” on the premise that there were a lack of signatures. It led to the collapse of the motion and the UNP then sacking my father, Athulathmudali and 8 other MP’s who openly came out against President Premadasa. As the Supreme Court held 2-1 on the legality of the sacking my father and others had no recourse to a political party they were in the political wilderness with their back to the political wall and fighting for their political survival.

A new beginning

The next course of action was the most vibrant, dynamic and imaginative political journey at that time. My Fatherliest Athulathmudali and and G.M. Premachandra took the establishment head on. The opposition was weak at that time and their resistance was paltry. My father and Athulathmudali devised a relentless and aggressive strategy to become the opposition outside parliament. They did this through several measures.

(A) Appointment of a capable General Secretary- Both my father and Athulathmudali were of the opinion that G.M Premachandra who was the labour minister under President Premadasa should be the GS of the new party. He was a fiery and inspiring orator, a man of the people and whose grounding in politics was very sound. He had to do a balancing act as my father and Athulathmudali had competing interest within the party and he had to broker many deals within them

(B) The new party claimed the ideological centre-right of the UNP as its political ideology. It was seen that the then UNP was moving to the extreme right with its privatisation agenda, bringing in laws in favour of companies such the parate execution act, gross abuse of human rights ignoring the party base gave enough space for my father and Lalith to show and capture an ideological shift in the party. While President Premadasa’s second wave of economic reforms was needed for the country, the manner in which it was done through powerful technocrats and an authoritarian manner gave political space for my father and Athulathmudali to manouvre beautifully

(C) Quick appointments of capable organizers-My father and Athulathmudali quickly appointed organizers to electorates and gave them targets and hurdles to clear. Most of them were within the 35-45 age group, self-made men and women who wanted to contribute towards their country. They closely associated with my father and Athulathmudali and became good organizers, orators and honed their PR skills. Most of them entered parliament and became cabinet ministers.

(D) A more democratic party Structure-The traditional political parties were dominated by the charisma of their leaders. The SLFP by Mrs. Bandaranaike and the UNP by President Premadasa. In the DUNF, all the key figures namely my father, Athulathmudali and Premachandra encouraged freedom of expression without fear or favour.In this way a more coherent, practical and rational political strategy was devised to take on the government

(E)    Team work to the core-All the key leaders worked as a team to achieve their political ends. The divisions that existed in the UNP were forgotten. I have to mention here the determination of Mr. Athulathmudali in this journey. His indomitable spirit of energy, spirit and enthusiasm kept even the darkest days aglow. So, you had three extremely capable leaders running at the same time at different speeds, but with one final destination.

(F) Trade Unionism-My father, Athulathmudali and Premchandra quickly developed a very vibrant trade unionism movement in the party. They personally went to all the government institutions and established union branches. The number of people attending was not important it was more important to go to the institution and form the trade union. The 1992 May day was pivotal. I remember walking behind my father and Athulathmudali in that May Day from Nugegoda to Hyde Park. Thousands of people lined up to greet them and there was a huge turn happening in the country

(G) Rotational Leadership-Although my father and Athulathmudali were working in perfect union there was a cry in the party to elect a leader. My father thought he had the majority of the EX-MP’s with him. A vote would have bought divisions in the party. Athulathmudali and my father agreed to a rotational party leadership with Athulathmudali taking over in the first year. This was a major breakthrough as President Premadasa never expected both of them to come together on this point. It put him on the back foot.

(H) Building up the Professional, Student, Farmer and Women’s Movements through an active pro-active approach. -This was done focusing entirely on these groups and getting them engaged in all fields of discussion, my father’s and Athulathmudali’s house at Flower Terrace were open houses where people from all walks of life could come and engage with them.

At the beginning of 1993 the DUNF was keeping a tremendous upward trend. The Energy was fantastic. All of us had much hope. In March of 1993 the government called for provincial council elections. My father contested for the post of chief minister of the central province and Athulathmudali in the Western Province and Premachamdra in NWP.They were taking on the system and beating it. This was a political movement that was started from scratch and garnered close to 1 million votes in one and half years. It was classic case of how to build up a political movement. As a leader, my father was at his best. Aggressive, tactful, compromising and beautiful and full of hope it was the best that I had seen in him. He and Athulathmudali showed us what was possible. Looking back at those eventful years it taught us that politics is the art of the possible and this article is written for posterity to rekindle memories of that period. It is more relevant now of how a third force namely the NPP/JVP came to power. Although the time is different it is the same core principles that have been adopted.