Sobitha Thero’s R2P: Protect yahapalanaya from runaway Ranil and manipulating Mahinda

by Rajan Philips-June 6, 2015

The yahapalanaya initiative is facing two different dangers and needs protection from both. The first danger is from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his style of administration. Mr. Wickremesinghe is one of the prominent champions of the good governance movement and played a uniquely important role in its victory in the January 8 presidential election. But by his actions as interim Prime Minister since January 8, Mr. Wickremesinghe has been damaging the cause of good government and provoking public cynicism against it. The bigger danger is that if the UNP alliance were to win a majority of the seats in the next parliamentary election and form a new government, the already runway Ranil Wickremesinghe might become even more uncontrollable as the elected Prime Minister. That will not at all be a good development for good governance. The second danger is from former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The ‘bring back Mahinda’ campaign may not succeed in making Mahinda Rajapaksa the new PM, but the misplaced enthusiasm of his supporters may spill over to the streets and provoke the politics of partisan street fighting between blue shirts and green shirts, similar to the fighting between yellow shirts and red shirts that erupted in post-Thaksin Thailand a decade ago.

Sobitha Thero’s R2P Protect Yahapalanaya From Runaway Ranil and Manipulating Mahinda by Thavam Ratna