Battle between “elephant” and “swan” continues UNP WC to meet after RW returns from India MR and MS put forward a united front SLFP-SLPP alliance to contest under SLPP     The United National Party (UNP) is fast becoming a divided national party given its inability to reach a consensus on forming an alliance to contest the upcoming general election. The irony is that usually issues of this nature are faced when forming an alliance between different political parties, but with the UNP, the issues are between factions within the same party. Last week also saw UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe sending a message to the US diplomats in Colombo, distancing himself and the party from the comments made by UNP Deputy Leader and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa over the US' move to deny visas to Army Commander Lt. General Shavendra Silva and his family. As soon as the US State Department's announcement on the decision was made public, Premadasa, while expressing his regret at the US' stance, extended his full support to the Army Commander and his family by putting up posts on his social media. Angered by Premadasa’s move, Wickremesinghe had last Monday (17) sent a message to the US envoy in Colombo that Premadasa’s sentiments did not in any way reflect those of the UNP. The cold war that started with this comment was further compounded during the week with the stance adopted by Premadasa regarding the Vote on Account (VoA) presented to the House by the Government. The UNP seniors during discussions on the Government’s VoA had discussed the possibility of defeating the proposal in Parliament together with the rest of the members of the Opposition, which in turn would give some strength to the party’s image. Nevertheless, Premadasa was not privy to this discussion which had taken place between a few members. However, when the VoA was taken up in Parliament last week, Premadasa and his group, taking a sincere stance, raised objections to the Government’s move to seek approval to take more loans. Premadasa said the UNP would support the Government on its welfare as well as all other measures except for permission to obtain loans. The debate that ensued afterwards resulted in the Government withdrawing the VoA with the intention of turning towards the consolidated fund. It was later revealed that several senior UNPers had not been too pleased with Premadasa’s conduct, which they had termed to the party leadership as failure to capitalise on the opponent’s weak point. However, issues of the UNP started with the meeting of the 10 members of the party appointed to resolve issues related to the proposed new alliance and its symbol which met last Tuesday (18) to discuss the way forward. During the discussion, all parties had reached a consensus on the “swan” symbol of the Democratic National Front (DNF) affiliated to UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake. It was agreed by the Wickremesinghe and Premadasa factions that the “swan” would be used as it was a common symbol for which the UNP had campaigned for at two previous presidential elections. However, the committee members decided that the matter should be taken before the Election Commission (EC) in order to ensure there were no legal issues. The EC had stated that if the UNP’s “elephant” symbol was given up by the party to the alliance, the Commission could not give an assurance that the symbol could be re-assigned to the UNP after the election since it would then be enlisted in the party register of the EC. Also, the same situation would affect the “swan” symbol as well. The EC had explained this fact when a group of senior UNP members had met several Commission officers last week. The EC officers had explained that if any registered party gave up its symbol, it would then be listed in the register of the EC and if more than one political party requested for the symbol, a final decision on the party that would be vested with the symbol would have to be decided after drawing lots. Apart from the “elephant” and “swan” issue, the EC is yet to include the “heart” in the list of symbols to be assigned to a political party. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya formed by Premadasa had sought the “heart” as its symbol. While the party had been registered by the EC, the symbol proposed by the party was yet to be assigned to it. It is in this backdrop that the UNP Working Committee (WC) met on Wednesday (19) morning. It was going to be a big day for Karunanayake since a political party affiliated to him was going to end the deadlock over the alliance symbol. It was also his birthday. At the outset of the WC meeting, MPs Navin Dissanayake and Daya Gamage proposed that the UNP contest separately under the “elephant” symbol in several districts including Nuwara Eliya and Ampara. “I don’t like to contest under another symbol other than the elephant,” Dissanayake had said. MP Chandrani Bandara had then responded, saying: “Some people who claim to love the elephant more than life are the ones who secretly defected from the party. We are the ones who truly love the elephant. No one should misunderstand this issue. We have never said anywhere that we are against the elephant. We all love the elephant. Then assign the elephant symbol to the alliance.” “We must contest under the elephant symbol. It’s okay to form an alliance, but we are not ready to fall into traps set by some,” MP Palitha Range Bandara had said. Range Bandara had continued to criticise the alliance formed by Premadasa. Unable to contain his anger any longer, MP Ravi Samaraweera had stood and shouted, questioning the purpose of the meeting if it were to follow this path. “Sit down. Sit down,” Wickremesinghe had said, but an angry Samaraweera had walked towards the party leadership. “What’s the meaning of this? You asked us to come to decide on the party symbol, but instead you have got some of your men to lecture us. You don’t have to tell us about the value of the elephant. We know it. We were brought up in the village. We don’t need a tuition lesson from fellows who have pole-vaulted and those who are having deals with all sides,” Samaraweera had charged. He had continued questioning Wickremesinghe on the plight of the party after holding on to the leadership for 30 years. “What is this drama? Where are you trying to drag our party to? Don’t engage in cheap tactics like this,” Samaraweera had said and walked out of the meeting room. It was Premadasa who had then intervened and brought the situation under control. Ruwan breaks his silence Meanwhile, UNP MP Ruwan Wijewardene, who had most often remained silent, made his sentiments known at last week’s WC meeting. When Wijewardene had stood to make his sentiments known, MP Anoma Gamage had tried to dismiss him saying there had been more than enough sentiments expressed on the issue of the symbol and there was no need for more. Angered by the comments, Wijewardene had snapped back saying that he had as much a right as anyone else to make his views known at the WC meeting. He had started by explaining how the “elephant” was officially selected by the UNP in 1956 as it was considered a sacred animal in Buddhism and Hinduism. He had explained that even today, the tusker was used to carry the tooth relic in the Kandy Perahera and if the party was to reconnect with the Sinhala-Buddhist voters, then a symbol that links the party to them cannot be discarded. Wijewardene had gone on to say that in Hinduism, Lord Ganesh is half elephant and considered sacred while the colour green is considered to represent Paradise in Islam. “As a party, the UNP has prided itself on being inclusive of all religious and ethnic groups and that is something that the UNP must continue to do if it wishes to succeed,” the MP had said. He had also called on the leadership to unite and set an example for the younger members of the party. “The enemy is not Wickremesinghe or Premadasa but instead the Government and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). But, our own members are fighting with each other in the electorates and allowing the SLPP to campaign freely and with no opposition,” Wijewardene had said, driving the point home. All members at the meeting had agreed with his statement. It was then decided to task senior party lawyers President’s Counsel Daya Pelpola and President’s Counsel Ronald Perera with attending to the legal issues over the allocation of either the “elephant” or “swan” symbols to the new alliance. The lawyers were also asked to prepare a report on their findings and recommendations at the next WC meeting. Therefore, the UNP’s WC is expected to meet this week. A date for the meeting is to be set after Wickremesinghe returns to the country from India tomorrow (24). Wickremesinghe has travelled to India to deliver the keynote address at “The Huddle” – a conference organised by The Hindu – in Bangalore and is scheduled to return tomorrow. Once the WC meets this week, the issues pertaining to the alliance symbol will be addressed and whether a final decision would be reached at the meeting, only time will tell. Another point to ponder is that since the UNP had not contested the last presidential election and if it decides to contest the upcoming general election under an alliance with a new symbol, chances are that the party would contest the next local government/provincial council elections also as an alliance. In such a scenario, the UNP will be legally deemed defunct since it has failed to contest at three consecutive elections. The other issue that is likely to be a sour point at this week’s discussion would be the office bearers of the DNF. It is obvious that the Premadasa faction would not want to contest under the DNF and the “swan” symbol if the office bearers, especially the general secretary of the party, were going to remain unchanged. The incumbent General Secretary of the party is Shermila Perera, who is a close confidante of Karunanayake. Furthermore, Karunanayake would not agree to make any changes to the party’s existing office bearers if they are to be Premadasa loyalists. It is once again Hobson’s choice for the Premadasa group – contest under the UNP with Wickremesinghe or the DNF with Karunanayake. Both choices would not give any powers to the Premadasa group apart from Premadasa being touted as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. Therefore, it seems that the deadlock in the symbol issue is becoming further compounded. Hot topic Be that as it may, the issue of the alliance symbol dominated every aspect of the UNP last week with even the UNP MPs discussing the matter in all corners of Parliament. All the UNP MPs were disgruntled on one common issue – the delay in reaching a final decision on the symbol issue. It was then that members supporting the Wickremesinghe as well as the Premadasa groups had said that they did not expect the legal impediments pointed out by the EC in assigning the “swan” symbol to the new alliance. “Just as we were all reaching an agreement, this happened,” a young disgruntled UNP MP said. A group of Wickremesinghe loyalists who gathered at the Parliament restaurant discussed that the only remaining option for the UNP was to contest under the party’s “elephant” symbol since going for a draw to get the “swan” symbol could end up in unexpected complications. There were also several meetings on the symbol at the Opposition Leader’s office in Parliament. It was the view of several Premadasa group MPs that they should not get embroiled in yet another series of arguments following the EC’s observations on the “swan” symbol. Meanwhile, Premadasa is continuing to receive invitations from UNP MPs to contest from several districts. The first invitation was extended from the Colombo District where MP Sujeewa Senasinghe had pledged to carry out Premadasa’s election campaign. The next invitation was extended by UNP MPs Ashok Abeysinghe and Thushara Indunil, who had asked Premadasa to contest the upcoming general election from the Kurunegala District. Another invitation was extended from the Gampaha District. Several party representatives from the Gampaha District had invited Premadasa to contest the election from Gampaha in a similar manner to Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa, who contested the last general election from the Kurunegala District. Then two provincial councillors from the Kandy District, Chanaka Ailapperuma and Thilina Bandara Tennakoon, had invited Premadasa to contest from Kandy. However, Premadasa had not responded to any of these invitations. He had told several of his confidantes that since he travelled islandwide during the last presidential election and also as the former Housing Minister, he would not have any issue deciding on a district to contest at the upcoming polls. Basil gets SLFP-SLPP together While the UNP continues to limp along with its issues, the proposed alliance between the SLPP and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) that was agreed upon in the run-up to the last presidential election faced several storms due to the ongoing battles between members of both parties. Members representing both sides started making critical comments regarding one another and some members of the SLPP openly called on the SLFP to contest the upcoming general election on its own. However, as pointed out by the SLPP’s theoretician, Basil Rajapaksa, both the SLPP and SLFP were facing some issues over the “dowry” following its agreement to marry during the presidential election last year. Basil continuously maintained that the proposed SLFP-SLPP alliance will be formed and that both parties would contest the upcoming general election under the alliance. In usual fashion, Basil commenced his behind-the-scenes operation to launch the SLFP-SLPP alliance. He has started by meeting SLPP Leader Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and SLFP Leader former President Maithripala Sirisena separately. It is interesting to note that Basil had taken extra precautions to ensure the highest level of confidentiality of these meetings. One of the main reasons was the displeasure among some SLPP members to contest the general election as an alliance. Basil’s first task was to bring the leaders of both parties to a common ground. The SLFPers pushed for the alliance to contest under a common symbol of the “chair”, which was the symbol of the former People’s Alliance (PA). The SLPP members wanted the alliance to contest under the party’s symbol of the “flower bud”. However, following a round of discussions held last Sunday (16), Basil managed to get the SLFP to agree to contest as the alliance under the “flower bud” symbol of the SLPP. On the other hand, the decision to contest under the SLPP’s symbol would mean that the SLFP while campaigning under the proposed new alliance, would have to contest under the SLPP, which will be the political party. In fact, the SLFP-SLPP alliance also faced the same issue that the UNP is facing at the moment over the alliance symbol. If the SLPP were to assign its symbol to the proposed alliance, the party would lose its symbol and would have to get a new one. Therefore, keeping the legal implications in mind, Basil dangled the alliance carrot before the SLFP. The take was – if you want to contest as an alliance, it has to be under the “flower bud” symbol. The SLFP agreed to the symbol and after much hesitance, agreed to contest under the SLPP at the poll while campaigning under the new alliance. On Monday (17), it was SLFP Treasurer Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna who informed the SLFP office bearers of the decision and the plan to register the alliance that day. While there were initial objections raised by SLFP seniors like Ministers Dayasiri Jayasekara, Mahinda Amaraweera, and Duminda Dissanayake over contesting under the SLPP, after discussions with the party leadership, it was unanimously agreed to form the alliance and campaign under it while contesting under the SLPP. Jump-starting the alliance Accordingly, last Monday saw the SLPP and SLFP requesting the EC to register the new alliance, Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandanaya (Sri Lanka Freedom People’s Alliance [SLFPA]) to contest the upcoming general election under the “flower bud” symbol. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was named as the Leader of the alliance while former President Sirisena was appointed the Chairman and Basil Rajapaksa the General Secretary. Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) Leader Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has been named as Deputy Chairman of the new alliance while Ministers Dayasiri Jayasekara and Wimal Weerawansa are National Organisers. The other office bearers of the new alliance are – Deputy Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera, Assistant Secretary Udaya Gammanpila, and Vice Chairmen Prof. Tissa Vitharana, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, and D.E.W. Gunasekara. Nine other political parties were also included in the new SLFPA alliance, excluding the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC), and A.L.M. Athaullah’s party. Interestingly, the filing of the registration papers before the EC was not known by many SLFP as well as SLPP members. Apart from the leadership of the two parties and the senior party members involved in the negotiations, no one else was aware of the finalisation of the alliance. Even other coalition parties of the alliance knew about the registration of the alliance only when SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam had visited the residences of the general secretaries of some of the parties the previous night to get their signatures for the registration papers. When Basil had telephoned the General Secretary of the Communist Party D.E.W. Gunasekara to get his signature for the registration paper, Gunasekara had said he was in Matara and that he could sign it the following morning. Accordingly, Gunasekara had signed the papers the following morning before they were handed to the EC. It was after Kariyawasam, together with SLFP General Secretary Jayasekara, handed over the registration paper to the EC that the rest of the party members found out about the formation of the alliance. A united front The first meeting of the SLFPA was held last Tuesday (18) evening at Temple Trees. The meeting was earlier scheduled to be a meeting between the leaders of the SLFP and SLPP to sort out the issues related to the formation of the alliance. However, with the alliance being registered the day before, the meeting on Tuesday was converted into a meeting of party leaders of the newly formed SLFPA. Prior to the meeting, all party leaders attended a friendly gathering which was also attended by Prime Minister Rajapaksa, former President Sirisena, Basil, Dinesh Gunawardena, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Prof. G.L. Peiris, Douglas Devananda, Arumugam Thondaman, Dullas Alahapperuma, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, D.E.W. Gunasekara, Tissa Vitharana, Mahinda Amaraweera, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Gamini Lokuge, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Jayantha Samaraweera, and Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera among others. It was interesting to see Prime Minister Rajapaksa and Sirisena entering the meeting room together, showing a united front to contest the upcoming general election. The discussion focused on the upcoming general election, the dissolution of Parliament, and the election campaign. SLFP National Organiser Minister Duminda Dissanayake had stood to leave when the gathering was coming to an end without attending the meeting. Prior to his departure, he had invited Prime Minister Rajapaksa for the National Youth Sports Festival scheduled to take place in Anuradhapura. “I will attend it and drop by at your place,” the Premier had responded. Party leaders meet The party leaders' meeting had commenced at around 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Both the Prime Minster and former President had sat next to each other at the head table. Basil had sat down at the meeting with a large file containing details about the past elections and results. His move was witnessed as that of a man on a mission. However, Vasudeva Nanayakkara had posed an unrelated question at the meeting to the Prime Minister. He had asked about the rising cost of living and the shortage of fertiliser for farmers. Prime Minister Rajapaksa had immediately telephoned the Treasury Secretary and directed him to take the necessary measures to overcome the fertiliser shortage. Once the matter was resolved, the party leaders refocused their attention on the discussion regarding the alliance. They discussed the issues related to the nominations lists and the symbol. Basil had explained the voter patterns during the last few elections and noted that it would be advantageous for the alliance to contest under the “flower bud” symbol. After everyone gathered agreed to it, the party leaders had decided that an agreement needed to be signed separately between the parties in the alliance and the SLPP prior to the general election that would iron out any remaining issues. Hence, the SLFP-SLPP alliance finally got off the ground last week. SLFPers meet GR Meanwhile, a group of SLFP seniors together with the party leadership had met with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last Thursday (20) afternoon. The meeting had taken place at the Presidential Secretariat and the SLFP delegation was led by Sirisena and included Ministers de Silva, Jayasekara, Amaraweera, and Dissanayake. The discussion was mainly focused on the new alliance and the manner in which the parties would contest at the upcoming general election. The SLFPers had explained to the President how the coalition parties of the alliance would campaign in their respective constituencies at the election. The meeting had lasted for over one hour and the President and the SLFPers had concluded the meeting following lunch.