Who’s leading in the run-up to Presidential polls - EDITORIAL

The exact date for the much-anticipated presidential election, has not yet been released. A report in our sister paper the ‘Sunday Times’ anticipates the elections to be held on September 21. At the same time, political parties and civil society groups are pressurising the office of the Commissioner of Elections to announce the day of nominations as early as possible. 

Chairman of the  Election Commission R.M.A.L. Rathnayake has announced that Treasury officials had assured him the allocation of Rs. 10 billion would be released in keeping with requirements. He has also spoken to the Inspector General of Police regarding the need to put in place all necessary security measures to ensure a violence-free election.

The question to be asked however is how ready are our political parties to face this extremely important election. Many a political party remains undecided on the choice of their candidate. A number of smaller political groupings are yet to publicly announce whom they will support. They have formed alliances of their own. 

These groups are canvassing among the major political parties for the crumbs, which fall off the political table before attaching themselves to one or the other contenders.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) -the political party with the largest number of MPs in parliament- has not announced who its candidate will be. The group now a shadow of its former self is widely discredited among the public at large, especially after its fall from power. The SLPP coyly claims it is awaiting the announcement of the polling date to announce its candidate or whether it would be backing a common candidate. 

The United National Party (UNP), which has ruled the country as the ruling party or as part of its governing coalition, for 38 of the country’s 75 years since independence, has been reduced to a single nominated member in the present parliament. After its defeat at the last general election, the party has been in complete disarray. 

The UNP further disintegrated when a section of its members broke away, formed the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and contested the general elections in 2020. Its members today form the largest group in the political opposition in parliament. Unfortunately, the SJB too has faced several defections, weakening its voter base.
Since UNP leader –Ranil Wickremesinghe-  was appointed president, the political fortunes of the UNP have seen an uptick in its base support. The UNP general secretary has claimed his party will nominate Ranil Wickremesinghe as its presidential candidate.

Wickremesinghe on the other hand, has indicated he wishes to be nominated as a common candidate rather than a candidate from a particular political party.
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) earlier the alternate ruling party to the UNP, is splintered and divided. Presently the party is involved in a number of court cases to decide which of the splinter groups represents the party.

The dark horse in the run-up to the presidential polls is the National People’s Power group -the NPP- led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led coalition. The JVP has claimed responsibility for the wave of strikes, which hit the country during the past weeks. Whether these actions, which hit the poor hardest, will gain them votes is questionable.
The base support of the NPP has been young voters who are fed up with the corrupt practices of the main ruling political parties and their hangers-on. In addition, the NPP is also courting traditional voters, who too are angered with the ongoing corruption in government. 

A number of Muslim religious leaders have also appeared on the NPP stage, which may be a sign the community is turning away from religious-based party politics.
The Tamil political parties of the north and east are playing their cards close to their chests. They have not revealed whether they will support any of the leading Sinhalese presidential candidates. There have been also suggestions of these parties putting forward a common candidate of their own. 

President Wickremesinghe meanwhile, in his individual capacity has been busy building up his voter base in a manner similar to that of former president R. Premadasa who built homes for the homeless. In like manner, President Wickremesinghe is granting title deeds to landless peasants and workers, who number around 2 million or more.
If his strategy succeeds, he will have a huge bonus of around two to three million assured votes.