The Island Editorial

Conspiracies galore!

20 October 2016

Western Province Chief Minister, Isura Devapriya, has, speaking at a school function, defended President Maithripala Sirisena to the hilt over the latter’s recent swipe at the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Devapriya, who is beholden to the President for his appointment as the CM, has also claimed there is a conspiracy to destroy the SLFP. Politicians usually ‘see more devils than vast hell can hold’!

The SLFP is being destroyed from within and not from without. Its downfall began the day its General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena decamped and joined forces with the UNP to contest the last presidential election. After securing the much-coveted presidency last year he sacked the UPFA government which had about 130 SLFP MPs within its ranks to install a UNP-led administration. Subsequently, he ruined the SLFP’s chances of winning the last general election as he wanted to prevent his bête noire, Mahinda Rajapaksa from becoming the Prime Minister. He also deprived the SLFP of the post of the Opposition Leader through political manoeuvrings.

Sirisena’s gain was the SLFP’s loss. The debilitation of the SLFP is mainly due to the running battle between the Rajapaksas and the Sirisenas, representing the two power centres within the party. They are jousting for dominance. So, the question is whether the party needs any external enemies to destroy it.

There is no love lost between the UNP and the SLFP though their leaders, for political expediency, have formed a joint administration. The UNP used Sirisena to bring down the Rajapaksa government, expecting him to fade away after serving one term. The UNP has realised that it made a big political miscalculation as regards the incumbent President’s political ambitions. It has been craftily using Sirisena’s antipathy towards the Rajapaksas to debilitate the SLFP by targeting his rivals, Its strategy is clear; it knows the debilitation of the SLFP will automatically weaken Sirisena’s position in national politics, enabling it to win the next parliamentary and presidential elections with ease.

Having apparently seen through the UNP’s strategy the President is adopting counter measures to prevent his isolation within the SLFP and its support base. He may have thought an outburst against the FCID, CID and the CIABOC would help him shore up his image among the party supporters.

The Rajapaksas, while in power, weakened the UNP systematically by engineering crossovers and dissension within its ranks. The boot is now on the other foot. If the not-so-cold war between the UNP and the SLFP (Maithri Faction) in the ruling coalition comes to a head with the latter pulling out the former will be left with no alternative but to spring crossovers to muster a working majority in Parliament the way the Rajapaksas did prior to 2010 to remain in power.

The JVP also wants the SLFP divided. Its slain founder leader Rohana Wijeweera’s strategy was to cripple the SLFP, eat into its support base and then take on the UNP to capture state power. It expects the internal strife of the SLFP to drag on at least until or the 2020 general election. A thaw in the relations between the Sirisena and Rajapaksa factions will help the SLFP bounce back. This is a worrisome proposition for the JVP.

Political parties the world over are busy trying to weaken their opponents so as to gain or retain power. That’s their raison d’etre. So, as long as politicians and political parties are around there won’t be any dearth of conspiracies. The SLFP crisis is of its own making and others are only capitalising on its woes to gain political mileage. That is the name of the game in power politics.