WikiLeaks: Sinhalese Extremist Sihala Urumaya – A Small Party That Packs A Political Wallop

April 24, 2013 |

“The Sihala Urumaya (SU) party is minuscule as an electoral force. The party packs a political wallop, however: its leadership is articulate and generates press coverage; its cadre are devoted to the party’s extremist views; and it maintains strong support in the influential Buddhist clergy. While unlikely to gain electoral power anytime soon, the SU — in a sign that Sinhalese extremism cannot be written off as a force — has shown the ability to get its anti-peace process message across and mold the public debate.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

Champika

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable discusses the rise of the Sihala Urumaya. The cable is classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” and written on November 20, 2003. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo Jeffrey J. Lunstead.

The ambassador wrote; “Sri Lanka’s Sihala Urumaya (‘Sinhalese birthright’) party is minuscule as an electoral force, especially when compared with Sri Lanka’s big four parties (the United National Party ‘UNP’, the People’s Alliance ‘PA’, the Tamil National Alliance ‘TNA’, and the Janantha Vimukthi Peramuna ‘JVP’). The SU holds no seats in Parliament and in the last parliamentary elections in December 2001 it won only .56 percent of the total vote. The party also holds only a small smattering of seats in the country’s provincial and local councils. Moreover, the party’s membership base is quite limited, with an active cadre numbering in the hundreds and actual dues-paying party members numbering in the low thousands.”

Under the subheading “NOTEWORTHY POLITICAL INFLUENCE” the ambassador wrote; “While the party lacks electoral muscle, however, it does maintain a fair degree of political influence. One factor in its favor is that its major leaders, chief secretary Tilak Karunaratne and national organizer Champika Ranaweke, are young and articulate. They manage to generate a fair amount of press coverage for the party’s Sinhalese Buddhist extremist point of view through interviews in which they often make radical statements. Karunaratne stated to the press earlier this year, for example, that the SU was ready to train suicide bombers in order to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). While Karunaratne quickly backtracked on this statement, he netted a lot of publicity for his party in the process. To some extent, in showing the ability to get in the press, the party is benefiting from press outlets, such as the ISLAND and DIVAINA, English-and Sinhala-language dailies respectively, which routinely take an anti-peace process, pro-Sinhalese editorial slant. In the meantime, SU cadre are fanatically dedicated to the parties’ anti-peace process, anti-LTTE platform, and they consistently show up for its rallies (see below). At the same time, the party maintains a high degree of support within Sri Lanka’s influential Buddhist clergy. Commenting on the SU’s influence, Rohan Edirisinha, an analyst for the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a local think-tank, told polchief on November 18 that the SU ‘while small, has shown the ability to nudge the political debate in its direction.’”

Placing a comment the ambassador wrote;  Despite its best efforts, the SU appears unlikely to gain mass support anytime soon. After 20 years of conflict, the Sri Lankan public strongly supports the peace process and is unlikely to turn to the often shrill SU. That said, the SU has shown the ability to mold the debate. In doing so, the SU could make things easier down the road for mass parties that are skeptical toward the peace process, such as the People’s Alliance, or out-and-out opposed, such as the radical JVP. Moreover, the fact that the SU is able to get its anti-peace process, anti-LTTE views across, tends to underscore the point that Sinhalese extremism cannot be written off entirely as a force in Sri Lanka.”

Read the cable below for further details;