5th Column

My dear Ranil,

I thought of writing to you because you must be relaxing these days after weeks of gruelling campaigning for the election, an election in which you achieved what no leader in this country has been able to achieve in almost 75 years – the demise of the United National Party.

A party which has governed the nation for almost 40 years, a party which should have celebrated 75 years next year and a party which you led for the past 26 years is now almost dead. I am not sure whether you know this, Ranil, but many blame you for the fate of the UNP.

The UNP was the brainchild of DS, the Father of the Nation. It produced leaders of the calibre of DS, Dudley, JR and Preme (Snr). They had their individual styles. Yet, all of them could read the pulse of the people and give leadership to a party which made the people believe in them.

Sometimes the UNP was called the ‘Uncle Nephew Party’ because Sir John was DS’s nephew and you, after all, were JR’s nephew. Still, that was better than the SLFP which was reserved only for the ‘B’s for its first 50 years just as much as the ‘pohottuwa’ appears to be reserved for the ‘R’s now.

It was under JR that the Green light shone at its best. Whatever his other faults, JR also thought about what would happen to the UNP after him. So, he groomed a second tier of leadership in Preme (Snr), Lalith and Gamini. Most importantly, he also left at the right time, though he was in his 80s then.

Then there were clashes between Preme (Snr), Lalith and Gamini. We admired you for standing with Preme (Snr) during the impeachment. Unfortunately, all of them – and Ranjan too – perished in Tiger attacks. The UNP had to resort to its ‘B’ team captain – you. The party has stood still from that time.

The UNP had won every other election until then. It ruled for 17 years before you took over. Yours was a record-breaking leadership, Ranil. You have been our longest serving Opposition Leader. Since then, it has never won an election as a single party, and it has never won a presidential election even though you came very close to victory in 2005.

Despite such a record, you stayed on as the UNP leader. A Working Committee consisting of ‘yes-men’ appointed by you kept you in office, ignoring public sentiment. Slowly, the party lost the support base that JR and Preme (Snr) had tirelessly built up over the years.

Twice, you ‘outsourced’ the UNP’s candidacy. Dare I say it, this was more a tactic to ensure that you survived as the UNP leader after elections that you believed could not be won. You were right the first time but if you thought you were taking Sirisena for a ride he was in fact, taking you for a ride, Ranil.

You were given a last chance five years ago. You promised ‘yahapaalanaya’ but surrounded yourself with crooks who robbed the big bank. Those close to you ensured that those with the peoples’ support stayed in the periphery while they made all the decisions. The result was a government in chaos.

When those closer to the people realised defeat was inevitable, they wanted to ensure that there was a decent opposition. Whether they should have broken away is an arguable point. Eventually, the break up reduced the UNP vote from 30 per cent to 2 per cent!

When you took over as UNP leader, you were given a readily baked cake but you could never get the icing – the Presidency – on it, despite being PM five times. Satellite outfoxed you. Even Maithri tried to oust you. If you went to the people soon after that, you may have survived, but you chose not to.

The great party that DS, Dudley, JR put together is now on ice, but it is not so much the death of the UNP that we lament, it is the lack of a formidable opposition. Mahinda maama will be ever grateful, but we are worried because we know absolute power corrupts absolutely.

A patriot, they say, is one who puts country before self. If history is to be kind to you, you can still ask Sajith to return and make the UNP great again. We know you will not do that.

It now seems neither does Sajith want to go back.

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: Ranil, you were first hailed as ‘Mr Clean’. Then, people compared your public appearances to ‘Mr Bean’. Now, the people have clearly told you that you are a ‘Has Been’.