Oh when will they ever learn

As the JVP and later the NPP demonstrated, numbers in Parliament are not the only factor that determines an effective Opposition force. Even with a paltry three seats, the NPP was a formidable force during the last few years, giving voice to the frustrations and aspirations of the people, especially during the economic and political calamity since 2022.

As the NPP begins its tenure in office with an overwhelming majority of 159 it is more important than ever for the Opposition to make up in quality what they cannot muster in quantity. It is this quality of the legislature that will be the effective check and balance against seemingly overwhelming executive and legislative power concentrated into one party. 

As a left-wing administration is in power there needs to be an alternative political ideology that could counter its policies. The traditional United National Party would have been that alternative had it not been destroyed by personal power hunger. Ever since independence, the UNP had been a mainstay in Sri Lankan politics. It was a party where minorities found a voice and market-driven economic policies lifted millions out of poverty. It was a party built on a pragmatic vision for Sri Lanka, where economic growth and social upliftment went hand in hand. But today, the once-grand UNP has been decimated into oblivion. The only representation of the semblance of the UNP is the election to Parliament of Jeevan Thondaman who used the party and the symbol to contest from the Nuwara Eliya district.

New Democratic Front (NDF), supposedly led by UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, is a desperate and disparate coalition of rejects from all shades of political colour with little cohesion or policy. It will surely disintegrate as an effective unit within Parliament. The only representation that was supposedly reserved within the NDF for the UNP was a promise of a national list seat. It is now revealed that Ravi Karunanayake has nominated himself for one of two national list seats claiming that he is the true representation of the UNP.

This cannot be further from the truth. Karunanayake represents the worst elements of the Yahapalana government and the UNP which betrayed the mandate given by the people in 2015. Rather than representing an ideological opposite to socialism, protectionism and populism, Karunanayake is the very epitome of crony capitalism and everything that can go wrong within a capitalist system without the Rule of Law to ensure a level playing field or market forces.

In 2020 having faced its worst electoral defeat in history, the UNP was reduced to a single seat in Parliament, that too via the national list. Party leader Wickremesinghe grabbed that seat to eventually manoeuvre himself into the presidency via numerous betrayals and machinations. Rather than resurrecting the UNP this ensured its complete obliteration. The fact that not a single UNPer was elected at the recent General elections, even though the NDF, was supposedly led by its leader, demonstrates this sorry state of affairs.  

Despite its sad reality, the traditional UNP’s principles are relevant today and will offer a viable alternative path to a socialist administration. If this message of a just, equitable, free and open market model is to be effectively presented as an alternative then it should be done by those who are not tainted with allegations of corruption and gross incompetence. If the final nail on the UNP’s coffin is not to be hammered and this grand old party is to have another leaf of life it must, even at this very late stage, shed the baggage of those like Ravi Karunanayake.