Daily News Editorial

UNP at 70

07 September 2016

The United National Party turned 70 yesterday, the proverbial biblical lifespan for man. But there is nothing to indicate that the grand old party is in the final throes of its existence. On the contrary, it is back in the saddle enjoying governmental power after two decades in the political wilderness, albeit in joint arrangement with arch foe, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. It is set to charter a new course under the leadership of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe the suave, debonair intellectual whose abilities and international standing are accepted unquestioningly even among his ardent political foes.

It was certainly not a smooth ride to power for Wickremesinghe, but for whose strategies and deft political manoeuvrings, the party would still be languishing in the Opposition. In that sense the party rank and file have a lot to be grateful to their present leader but for whose vision and good political sense they would still have remained orphaned.

The grand old party has certainly a lot to be proud of looking down the years. It has tasted success and reversals in its checkered existence but had at no time thrown in the towel.

Many a political pundit wrote the obituary of the party following its electoral debacle in 1956, but it rose phoenix like from the ashes winning back the trust and confidence of the people once again. This is because the party had a solid base, built on the legacy of D.S. Senanayake, its founding father and beloved by the people as the father of the nation.

Its liberal democratic policies were popular with the youth, the metropolitan populace and the conservative middle class which represented the nucleus of its support in the earlier days. But it also won over large swathes of the peasantry and farmers with its colonisation schemes and irrigation projects in the far flung denizens. Though branded as a capitalist party serving the interests of the rich, the privileged and the party going, golf playing Colombo elite, to the UNP goes the credit of launching the largest ever development projects in the country, beginning with the Gal-Oya scheme of D.S. Senanayake to the Mahaweli multi-purpose development project, that tremendously benefited the farmers and peasantry.

Not only that, it was the UNP under JRJ who took the plunge and ushered in the open economy, only for India to follow suit. By doing so, it changed the landscape of Sri Lanka from a sleepy, listless, laid by island to a bustling economic centre in the region that brought in loads of foreign investment and expertise, setting the stage for monumental economic take off whose bounties are enjoyed even to this day. The party could dwell in smug satisfaction that its opponents who condemned and criticized the open economy then, later went on to adopt the same policies and even went onto outperform the UNP in this regard.

It is commonly accepted that the country always prospered economically under UNP regimes, with the party known for its efficient administrators and technocrats even in the past. The party that ushered in Independence from the colonial rulers, to the UNP goes the credit of uniting all communities, religions and ethnic groups under one banner. Among those in the vanguard to form the UNP were leading figures of the minority communities such as men of the calibre of Sir T.B. Jayah. It says much for the party that it still retains that cosmopolitan outlook though it had to suffer electoral reversals due to this uncompromising stance.

Much water has flown down the bridge since the days when the grand old party was labeled as a party representing the elite class. Leaders down the years have succeeded in a revolutionary transformation of the UNP infusing it with a new ethos that resonated with the common man. The catalyst of this change no doubt was the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa who introduced concepts such as Jana Saviya and Gam Udawa which would have sounded alien to the party several decades ago. He not only ushered in people friendly policies but also took government to the far flung villages with his well known mobile community services, all of which went towards changing the face of the UNP. Not only that, the party also attracted men and women drawn from the lower strata into its fold and entrusted them with leadership. The type of faces that one would have not seen in the UNP many decades ago holding positions of responsibility in the party is testament to this. Gone are the days when the party was synonymous with portly, pipe smoking Prime Ministers and other leaders. The grand old party has reached yet another milestone in its checkered journey. It has come to where it is, the hard way, learning from its mistakes and making course corrections, concessions, in tune with the changing times. It may be bruised and battered on the way to 70. But the landmark no doubt will be time for retrospection and fresh resolve to forge ahead surmounting all obstacles, as it has done down the decades.