ECONOMYNEXT – Ruling nationalist party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)’s internal differences have finally come out through its own actions and criticisms, as a majority of the party’s legislators have chosen to back President Ranil Wickremesinghe in the next presidential poll scheduled for September 21.
The decision to back the current president by at least 92 SLPP legislators came a day after the party led by former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to field their own candidate without announcing the candidate.
Many young SLPP parliament members and senior ministers spoke out to back Wickremesinghe in an independent coalition for the presidential election.
For many political analysts it was not a surprise, and some still say it could be a strategy to woo many opposition legislators to back Wickremesinghe.
Here are some questions (Q) and answers (A) on the background for such a move, possible impacts, and the latest political situation in Sri Lanka:
Q: What is the rationale behind the SLPP’s decision to back its own candidate?
A: The SLPP is a party formed and led by Rajapaksa’s family members. At its peak in 2021, five Rajapaksas were holding cabinet minister portfolios including then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and ex-prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. The party also helped former finance minister and SLPP’s strategist Basil Rajapaksa to amend the constitution for his parliament entry through a wild card method without being elected and having to renounce his US citizenship. Most of the key decisions of the party were taken by Rajapaksa family members, a move that forced some party legislators to leave the coalition even before Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted through mass street protests. Legislators outside the Rajapaksa family just followed the orders of senior Rajapaksas (Mahinda, Basil) and sometimes blindly with no rationale.
However, after Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as the president through a parliamentary vote backed by the SLPP, the Rajapaksas started to lose their grip on the party. Many of the party’s young legislators were given state minister posts and were allowed to take their own decisions on their ministerial matters. Two SLPP state ministers told EconomyNext that they got exposure under the Wickremesinghe administration with independent decision-making on their ministerial matters.
Wickremesinghe had no choice but to appoint most of the SLPP legislators to run the crisis-hit Sri Lanka despite being blamed for the country’s bankruptcy.
Many of the SLPP legislators still revere former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a leader with political acumen. However, political analysts say, they do not have the same regard for other Rajapaksas including Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest and legislator son of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Five SLPP state ministers who spoke to EconomyNext said most party members did not like the idea of Namal Rajapaksa leading the party after Mahinda Rajapaksa. However, they said, Namal’s appointment as the SLPP National Organizer had made them feel that the party would always be under the tight control of the Rajapaksa family.
Meanwhile, SLPP members say, Namal backed by his father also wanted to navigate the party in the current turbulent time to build up and prove his leadership, aiming to prepare it to win future polls under his leadership.
The SLPP decision also comes on the back of strong support for Mahinda Rajapaksa for his political leadership in winning a long dragged civil war in 2009 despite war crimes allegations. An SLPP member who still remains with the party and is loyal to Rajapaksas said the party’s decision will help to assess the grass root support of the nationalist party.
Q: Is the SLPP a liability to Wickremesinghe’s campaign?
A: Political analysts had mixed responses on this, though most agree. After the 2022 economic crisis and sovereign debt default, most Sri Lankans are angry and furious with Rajapaksas for their misappropriation, corruption, and nepotism. Fielding a separate SLPP candidate is seen as removing some bad eggs from the lot.
However, some analysts said the SLPP still holds strong support specially because of Mahinda Rajapaksa and that could be a negative for Wickremesinghe’s election.
Most voters expect political leaders to be clean without any corruption when they contest. Many Sri Lankan voters have expressed their displeasure on Wickremesinghe’s inaction against Rajapaksa’s alleged corruption. They blame Wickremesinghe for soft paddling the past corruption probes against Rajapaksas, though the president had explained that those corruptions have not been proven in courts yet. Analysts expect the SLPP’s separate move could help ease public anger against Wickremesinghe.
Some opposition and minority political parties have expressed their reservations to back Wickremesinghe because of the SLPP. The nationalist party in its peak popularity antagonized the ethnic Muslim minority after ordering cremation of people who died of Covid-19. It was also seen as biased towards ethnic majority Buddhism, though the party has rejected this claim.
“Now opposition politicians, minority parties and minority political leaders can join to back Wickremesinghe, if they want,” Namal Rajapaksa told reporters on Wednesday (31).
“They have been saying that they are not coming because we (SLPP) do politics with the foundation of Buddhist voters.”
Q: Do Wickremesinghe-backing SLPP legislators have strong support in their constituencies?
A: Since the economic crisis, followed by protests in mid-2022, the support to the SLPP and its leaders had declined sharply. The assets and properties of over 70 SLPP legislators were destroyed or damaged by protestors after the May 9 attack by Rajapaksa supporters on unarmed and peaceful protesters. Analysts say it is hard to gauge the support to SLPP leaders now as the party did not face any election since the crisis.
Q: What were the key conflicts between Wickremesinghe and SLPP leaders?
A: Though the SLPP as a party had been supporting Wickremesinghe’s legislative actions and IMF-led economic reforms, the party has been against the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOE) under the guise of “restructuring”. Analysts said the SLPP’s stance is due to its voter base. Most of the state employees were recruited when Mahinda Rajapaksa was the president and some of them were appointed with political motivations. Wickremesinghe’s reforms and SOE restructuring, along with higher taxes, have hit most of these state employees.
The second and main conflict was Wickremesinghe’s decision to not appoint some hardcore SLPP legislators as cabinet ministers despite strong and repeated demand by party strategist Basil Rajapaksa. Wickremesinghe’s allies have said the president’s decision was based on public anger during and after the crisis.
Namal Rajapaksa also accused President Wickremesinghe of dividing the SLPP.
Q: What about the SLPP presidential candidate?
A: The party has so far failed to name a candidate though corporate mogul and SLPP national list legislator Dhammika Perera had been tipped to be the party’s choice. Many Wickremesinghe-backing SLPP parliamentarians still believe Mahinda Rajapaksa with his political acumen could reverse the decision of fielding a separate candidate and back Wickremesinghe, who has helped the country’s economic recovery and created an environment for SLPP leaders to go back to their constituency and start political campaign after public wrath and attacks in 2022. (Colombo/July 31/2024)