GR’s conspiracy theories and RW’s elevation to Presidency

Depending on who one chooses to believe, there are various versions to the story behind how the current President Ranil Wickremesinghe came to be appointed Prime Minister in May 2022 just days after Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from the post on 9 May 2022.

Now adding to the discourse is former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the man who appointed Wickremesinghe to the post. In his recently released book titled, “The conspiracy to oust me from the Presidency”, Rajapaksa says Wickremesinghe was not his first choice for the post of Prime Minister and he had first offered it to the Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa who is also the leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).

Premadasa has declined the offer saying he could not run the country without a majority in Parliament. Rajapaksa had subsequently offered the position to Sarath Fonseka who had agreed to accept it and asked Rajapaksa to make an announcement of his decision. During the same time, a delegation of the SJB had come to visit him and informed him that Premadasa was willing to accept the post of PM provided Rajapaksa resigned from the presidency soon after, a condition he refused to accept. Then Gotabaya turned to Wickremesinghe who was the lone UNP MP in Parliament and he had readily and unconditionally accepted the post and within two months became the President when Rajapaksa resigned.

The SJB has so far maintained that even though the post of PM was offered to its leader, Premadasa did not want to work with the Rajapaksas and had refused to accept the post. As to why Gotabaya had thought of offering the post to Fonseka, his arch rival, is not clear but may have been due to the fact that the former Army Commander was seen as working closely with those engaged in the ‘Aragalaya’ and had made the offer with the hope that his appointment would help to ease the situation.

This small extract from Gotabaya’s book itself shows that he had pretty much lost control over the unfolding events driven by people’s anger and frustration due to economic hardships. It also demonstrates his inexperience in governance and how haphazard his brief tenure in office was.

The likes of Gotabaya Rajapaksa thrive on conspiracy theories and this book seeks to take many unfounded allegations forward. It is the same tone of his election campaign in the lead up to the 2019 presidential poll when conspiracy theories were floated around freely by his henchmen to portray him as the saviour of the Sinhalese Buddhist and millions fell for it. The book is another attempt to do more of the same, taking credit when he wants (success of the COVID-19 vaccination program) and shifting blame to others for failures (economic collapse) and wrong decisions (mandatory cremation of all COVID victims).

Gotabaya Rajapaksa cannot be blamed for deciding to write a book on his experiences during those days of turmoil in the country as it is important to look at all sides for people to come to a well-informed decision on those events. But a better way to have gone about it is by admitting to the failures on his part and the misguided faith he placed on so-called ‘experts’ who made up his inner circle. Had he been less arrogant and paid more attention to the mood of the people of this country he may still have been the President and wouldn’t be at home writing a book.

It is not so much for the people of today to say how Gotabaya will be judged by future generations. Only the future can confirm whether his decision to appoint Wickremesinghe as PM was one of the few good ones he made in an otherwise disastrous and short time in office as President.