This past week marked the official start of the countdown to the end of the SLFP-UNP cohabitation Government, with nominations for the 2019 presidential election being finalised. For the first time in the country’s history, neither the incumbent President, Prime Minister, nor Opposition Leader will be contesting the presidential election. In 33 days, Maithripala Sirisena’s tenure as the President of Sri Lanka will come to an end, closing the door on a more turbulent political period in the country’s recent past. With nominations having been filed with the Election Commission (EC) on Monday (7), the country will play host to its largest ever presidential election with 35 candidates vying for the nod of confidence from over 15 million voters on 16 November. Campaigning for the elections is officially underway and the two frontrunners in the election, the SLPP and the UNP, held their inaugural rallies in Anuradhapura and Colombo, respectively. The SLPP used the rally on Wednesday (9) to not only kick off their campaign, but also to welcome back into the fold members of the SLFP who, until now, remained unwilling to support the Rajapaksa family at the polls. The “re-unification” of the SLFP under the SLPP banner was certainly a high point for the Rajapaksa camp in what was an otherwise underwhelming opening salvo. For the UNP, their rally on Thursday (10) marked an opportunity for the party to get their campaign off the ground, having been threatening to fizzle out before even starting. Interestingly, the UNP decided to cast aside their traditional stomping ground of Kandy for their campaign’s inaugural rally, choosing instead to hold it in the heart of Colombo at Galle Face Green. Most political pundits have suggested that to fill Galle Face Green at a political rally, crowds will need to be in excess of 120,000. At the start of a five-week campaign, it is certainly asking a lot from all those concerned to produce such a daunting figure. However, Thursday’s rally seemed to have surpassed all expectations with Galle Face Green and the adjoining Galle Road, leading up to the Kollupitiya junction, being filled with party supporters. Images and videos were widely shared on social media, from both party loyalists and the general public, depicting the far-reaching crowds of supporters who were surging towards the rally grounds. Much has been written about the UNP campaign in the past few weeks, with many of the public speculating that the internal debate over who should receive the candidacy would leave the grand old party divided. Thursday’s rally was an opportunity for both the party’s elected representatives and their supporters to put to rest any speculation and leave a telling mark on the electoral trail. With footage of the crowds attending the rally being widely shared online, many users took the opportunity to remind their audiences that large crowds at rallies do not translate into electoral victories, using the 2015 Mahinda Rajapaksa presidential campaign as an example. It is no secret that rally crowds are often not a good indicator of the pulse of the public during election season. However, Thursday’s rally portrayed a deeper and more significant factor that has been overlooked. A ‘homegrown candidate’ The 2019 presidential election will be the first time, since 2005, that the UNP has fielded its own candidate. In fact, it has been 25 years, Ranasinghe Premadasa having been the last elected President of the UNP in 1989 (assassinated in 1993, D.B. Wijetunge saw out the remainder of the term which ended in 1994), since a UNPer has occupied the top spot in Sri Lanka’s political hierarchy. For UNPers, the struggle to ascend to presidency has been a hard-fought battle. In 2005, UNP Leader and current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was narrowly defeated at the polls following a LTTE-enforced boycott of the election in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. There is little doubt that had those regions of the country been allowed to vote, Wickremesinghe would have been victorious at the election. For the party, the election was stolen and they were forced to spend the next 10 years in the Opposition. Two successive common candidates followed, in the form of Sarath Fonseka and Maithripala Sirisena. While Fonseka was defeated at the polls, Sirisena’s ascendency to the top with the backing of the UNP did not have a fairytale ending. Shortly after assuming office, the former SLFP General Secretary turned his attention to gaining control of his former party, leaving many UNPers feeling betrayed. This was but one of a series of events that led to the continued freezing over of relations between the UNP and their SLFP President. For the UNP Government, their supporters chose the 2018 local government election as the stage on which they would publicly display their anger towards their party. The experiment of the UNP-SLFP National Government had failed, and UNPers at the grassroots were demanding that their representatives take control of the Government. With the two previous attempts at pursuing a common candidate at the presidential election having failed in one way or another, it was highly unlikely that the party would go down this path for a third time. Sajith Premadasa’s arrival on the ticket for the UNP was a welcomed return by the party’s long-time supporters. While Premadasa will be contesting this election as the National Democratic Front’s candidate, the fact that he is a product of the UNP will not be lost on any of those disgruntled party supporters. Much has been said about Premadasa’s support amongst the party’s file and rank, and while that cannot be denied, the fact that for the first time in 15 years the UNP will be fielding a “homegrown candidate” should not be overlooked. The crowd witnessed on Thursday at the UNP-led rally is a testament to the very fact that the grassroots UNPers have been awoken from their slumber. Having boasted for decades of owning the largest vote bloc in the country, the party has given their supporters an opportunity to support these claims. The UNP has had an unlucky run with the presidency. In 1993-94, two potential leaders of the UNP and the party’s incumbent President were assassinated. In 2005, the party’s presidential candidate, and Leader of the UNP, was robbed of an electoral victory at the presidential election courtesy of alleged backroom dealings. In 2015, the party finally broke the drought and installed a President in the form of a common candidate. Since then, relations with their President have deteriorated to a point that was beyond repair. In 2019, the UNP has found a candidate of their own making. While it is far too early to make any predictions for this election, the crowds that thronged Galle Face Green is an indication that the party loyalists are energised and ready to leave their mark. The onus is now on the party to ensure that they carry on with the momentum and finally deliver the one thing the UNPers have been clamouring for since 1994 – a UNP presidency. Photo Pradeep dambarage