Debate continues on GR’s offers of PM post in 2022 

The circumstances under which current President Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as Prime Minister by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in May 2022 is still under discussions with varying interpretations of what led to this dramatic development. 

Wickremesinghe, who took over the reins as President from Rajapaksa just two months after he was appointed PM has repeatedly said that he was offered the post after the Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa turned down the offer made to him by the then president. ‘Sajith ran away without taking up the challenge,’ are the words that many in the Government use to describe Premadasa’s refusal of the PM post.

Premadasa on his part has said that he refused the offer as he did not want to be in Government with a set of rogues who had bankrupted the country but speculation on the real reason for his refusal continues.

This week the SJB once again sought to put to rest the various interpretations as to why its leader refused to take up the offer from the former president. SJB MP Harsha de Silva told a press conference that on the evening of 10 May 2022, four SJB members met with Rajapaksa to discuss the transition of power. Those who met the former president along with De Silva were MPs Eran Wickramaratne, Kabir Hashim, and Ranjith Madduma Bandara.

The group had discussed the transition of power with the proposals submitted by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) as a foundation on which the transition would take place. However, due to disagreements the talks did not yield a positive result.

“He (Premadasa) did not flee as accused,” de Silva emphasised, adding that someone should check with Rajapaksa about the veracity of these facts.

The former president’s version of events is somewhat different from what de Silva stated. In his book titled “Conspiracy to oust me from the presidency” Gotabaya Rajapaksa confirms that a delegation from the SJB came to meet him and told him that Premadasa would accept the post of PM provided Rajapaksa resigns the presidency after making the appointment, a condition which he had refused to accept.

He had then offered the post to SJB MP Sarath Fonskera but that too did not work out. Then he spoke to the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and offered him the post of PM which he readily accepted.

Hence everyone seems to have their own version of how the current president became PM but all that is now water under the bridge and looking back at the developments of the past two years, it looks like the former president picked the most able person for the job given the situation in the country at the time. While the country has a long way to go before it makes a full recovery from the economic mess it’s in, the current President has managed to bring about some level of stability on which a future government can build.

Sri Lanka’s politics is not without intrigue and a lot of conspiracies and how power changes hands is a lot down to backdoor deals and safeguarding of common interests. Even if Premadasa had taken over as PM in 2022, and succeeded Rajapaksa as president in July, it’s possible he may not have mustered a majority to get confirmation by a vote in the House. This could be one reason he was reluctant to take up the post. 

Political leaders are judged by future generations based on contribution to the development of the country and the pro-people policies they adopt while in office. No doubt there is a long line of critics of the current President with a fair number who even loath him, but when one looks at where the country stands today, even his worst critic will have to admit that the country is in a fairly better place than it was 24 months ago. 

Premadasa on his part has the opportunity to prove if he can do better than his former party boss, the current President, if he wins the next Presidential election and if not, he’ll have time to reflect on the missed opportunity to be PM in 2022 and possibly the President.