Is Rerun By SJB’s Yahapālanists Another Sham?

By Amrit Muttukumaru –JULY 30, 2021

Amrit Muttukumaru

The objective of this article is to prod the opposition, particularly the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) for credible course correction, if they are to stand a chance to electorally defeat the Rajapaksa juggernaut even in its current weakened state. Having a Sinhala nationalistic agenda and expecting the minorities to vote for the SJB as the lesser of the evils is unprincipled and does not contribute to nation-building. It is foolhardy for the SJB to think it could prevail against the SLPP on a Sinhala nationalist platform while paying lip service to minority grievances.

The hackneyed adage ‘The more things change the more they stay the same’ is never more truer than in its application to the erstwhile Yahapalanists – particularly those in the SJB and their allies now attempting a rerun to replace the current version of the Rajapaksa dominated government. Were not the leaders of the SJB, Rauff Hakeem led Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Rishard Bathiudeen led All Ceylon Makkal Congress, Karu Jayasuriya led National Movement for Social Justice, JVP and TNA either holding Cabinet office or giving overt political support to the duplicitous UNP dominated 2015-19 Yahapalana government? Would Jayasuriya have been Speaker if not for UNP support? The Yahapalana government was voted into office in 2015 on what turned out to be patently false promises. Are not these parties seemingly minus the JVP once again attempting to hoodwink the voters with almost the same vague promises under more favourable circumstances?

The excuse being proffered by their spokespersons that the Sirisena – Wickremesinghe combine is solely responsible for Yahapalana’s failure is disingenuous and unlikely to be believed even by a notoriously gullible electorate with a short attention span to boot. If that was the case, why did those now in the SJB frontline which include its leader Sajith Premadasa and several others either continue to hold ministerial office or as was the case with the TNA support the Yahapalana government until the moment Premadasa was defeated at the presidential election by Gotabaya Rajapaksa? In the case of the JVP, they overtly supported Yahapalana until the time its leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was nominated as their presidential candidate. 

We are now asked to repose our confidence in another Yahapalana type coalition, this time dominated by the SJB under the leadership of Karu Jayasuriya’s National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ). It was this same Jayasuriya who decamped from the UNP with 18 members in 2007 to accept ministerial portfolio in the UPFA under the Mahinda Rajapaksa presidency! He rejoined the UNP in December 2008. If indeed Jayasuriya is the leader of this SJB dominated coalition, what does this say of Premadasa’s leadership credentials?

Was not the TNA given out of turn opposition leadership under the aegis of the UNP on the dubious technicality that the SLFP was part of the Yahapalana government? The question for the TNA and Muslim political parties to honestly answer is whether the lives of Tamil and Muslim communities meaningfully improved given the patronage it had from the Yahapalana government? Another question for SJB’s Yahapalanists and the leaders of the JVP and TNA which gave the Yahapalana government overt support, is whether the installation of TNA leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan as opposition leader on a dubious technicality is consistent with the democratic norms all of them purport to uphold?

There is no better example of broken Yahapalana promises than the outrage demonstrated at a press conference by SJB professionals Dr. Harsha de Silva and Eran Wickramaratne in the run-up to the 2015 presidential election in regard to Casino, Drug & Ethanol Mafias (11:15 onwards). It is this same lot in the SJB that now oppose the ‘Port City Economic Commission Bill’ mainly on money laundering implications.

Could it not be said that if only the Yahapalana (good governance) government had fulfilled even half the promises it gave the voters, the country would not be in the precarious plight it now is in respect of its – economy, social stability, widespread corruption and public accountability? Let us be clear, successive administrations since independence have contributed to this – some more culpable.

Placing sole responsibility for Yahapalana failure on the Sirisena – Wickremesinghe combine will not wash. SJB’s Yahapalanists – particularly those who held crucial ministerial positions must bear their share of responsibility.

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