A crisis of the ‘deep state’

Thursday, 5 May 2016

After the success of his dissident May Day rally that drew huge crowds to Kirulapone at the beginning of the week, former President 

and Kurunegala District lawmaker Mahinda Rajapaksa was on the receiving end of a rude shock on Monday (2) morning. 

Hundreds of buses had entered the capital Colombo from remote districts across the island carrying thousands of supporters eager to see the back of the Sirisena administration and ensure Rajapaksa is re-anointed king and commander-in-chief. The Baseline Road and High Level Road, strewn with piles of litter, were testament to the success of the pro-Rajapaksa rally.

The ruling United National Party gathered the largest crowd at its rally in Campbell Park on May Day, with Police estimating a crowd of nearly 80,000 in attendance. A reinvigorated base turned out to prove that in spite of nearly 20 years in opposition, the UNP remains the country’s single largest political party. 

The two SLFP rallies saw their crowds split almost down the middle. In Galle, President Maithripala Sirisena’s rally was packed, with parts of the crowd being forced to remain outside the grounds. In the slightly smaller grounds in Kirulapone, the pro-Rajapaksa alliance also packed tens of thousands of adoring supporters of the former President. 

The competition for the show of force by the de jure and de facto leaders of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party at May Day 2016 seemed to end in a tie. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has pledged his commitment to an undivided SLFP, had led some 40 party men to rebel against their Party Leader and President. The separate May Day rallies finally ended the pretence.

Every attempt by President Sirisena to unify his party under his own chairmanship is failing. A large contingent of the elected SLFP MPs remain convinced that Mahinda Rajapaksa is their only hope for political survival.  There is no more denying that the SLFP is on the verge of a major split and deeply mired in internal crisis.

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