Mahinda, Ranil, Sajith and TNA in Opposition Politics

A strong opposition is a must for a democratic polity. Even the Rajapaksa regime wants an opposition, albeit a weak one, if only to broadcast to the rest of the world that all is well with Sri Lanka's democracy.

For President Mahinda Rajapaksa Ranil Wickremasinghe is the ideal leader of the opposition. The southern electorate has made a habit of rejecting the United National Party (UNP) under his leadership. In the 2010 parliamentary election UNP won 60 seats. Rajapaksa now has about one-third of them on his side. The balance that still remains in the opposition is badly split, with one faction supporting Wickremasinghe and the other opposing him. Some of the latter, though not all, want Sajith Premadasa as the party leader. However, this is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future for two reasons. First, the strong support that Rajapaksa appears to give Wickremasinghe to make sure that the latter remains as the UNP leader. A weak leader of the opposition is the best guarantee of longevity of the Rajapaksa presidency. Second, Wickremasinghe's regular sojourns abroad to the west are also helpful to Rajapaksa who has fallen from grace in most western capitals and thus needs a prominent political surrogate to represent the country. Wickremasinghe plays that role quite well. Read More>>