Sri Lankan nation must pay special attention to this considering the fact that LTTE separatism is militarily defeated by the current president without the consent of the West. The West biased comprador UNP is now in complete disarray and the opposition will be very ineffective in the future. Therefore the West would not want to depend on the ineffective opposition to oust current progressive government that liberated the country from the clutches of terrorism and now vows to win back the economic freedom by building national economy. It is in the light of this background that people of this country must engage in a serious dialog on appointing Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
In case of assassination of the president (LankaRising sincerely wishes that it would never happen), Prime Minister becomes the President for the rest of the term. It is miserable that this phenomenon is not seriously discussed in Sri Lankan political forums. However this same issue was critically discussed when rather indifferent Sarah Palin became the Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2008.
The traditional approach since R. Premadasa era has been to select rather politically less ambitious and credible character as the deputy. This has been the case in selecting D. B Wijethunga by president R. Premadasa (subsequently D.B. Wijethunga became president), selecting Ranil Wickramasingha by D. B Wijethunga and selecting Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka by both CBK and Mahinda Rajapaksa.
This rationale is perfectly correct from the prospective of the president himself because it mitigate the threat to his political life from his deputy. However, this is not the perfect solution from the point of view of the aspirations of the people and considering the reality of violent nature of world politics.
In case of a tragedy, the Prime minister must be a person who can lead the country till the end of the term of the elected president. If he does not have good enough leadership characteristics, the country is going to see a set back during the transition period which can be in years.
Therefore, it is very important that the post of Prime Minister must not only be a person whom the president can trust, but be a close ally of president who closely shares the visionary of the president itself. If the deputy is seen as a greater threat to the enemy, those vicious elements might even think twice before plotting for the life of the number one.
While conveying blessings of the triple gems to longevity of our popular president Mahinda Rajapaksa, LankaRising expects that he will give due attention to the wish of the common people of the country in selecting the next Prime Minister.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa always says that he works with next generation in mind and not the next election. Therefore, dear president, why not select a deputy whom you can happily transfer the winning flag of Sri Lanka at the end of your term and also equally capable of handling a contingency?
6 comments:
Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka is great gentlemen who is honust and trusted. Yes, agree that he is aging and not fit to be the succeed Mahinda in seven years... Probably Mahinda should pick his successor to be the next Prime Minister so that he aleady has good exposure and experience working closely with president.
On the other hand, after constitution change, Mahinda can step back to executive Prime Minister post so that he can contest for the post as long as people of the country love and respect him,,, in that case Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka is the best choice again.
Champika, Wimal or Namal ?
MR should see the need to appoint a competent PM only if he accepts that he will have to leave political office one day. Unless and until he accepts that reality, why would he want to CREATE a threat to him, however beneficial it may be to the country. MR's next political mission is to change this constitutional reality and pave way to a situation where he can continue forever as the leader of the country. With such a narrow power-driven mindset, why would anyone want to appoint a smart PM?
Mahinda is great leader. Not a old fox like JR or mere boaster like Premadasa or feeble clown like Ranil or witch like CBK.
He should rule this country as long as people vote for him...
Anyway its good to have more active PM. Mahinda is a true born genuine leader,, He should not worry about being challenge by his deputy at all...
This is a very much relevant topic which has not come to limelight for discussions and consideration due to various reasons. Apart from the reason that you highlighted -being an effective successor to the president in the event of him being eliminated-the future prime minister of SL will have to play a very important role in the back drop of challenges we as a nation faces in the current international context. This role was to a certain extent successfully played by the current prime minister.
During the last stages of the war, when we were in constant pressure from LTTE supportive West and the NGO’s president Mahinda made use the Prime Minister too to counter many allegations leveled against us. The Prime Minister’s eloquence ably supported by his command of English greatly helped him to play this very important role vary successfully. He visited some countries, gave speeches and interviews in various world bodies during that difficult period. Therefore, the role of the PM in future SL is as equally important as the Foreign Minister. So the command of English by the future PM should certainly be an important factor that the president should seriously consider in appointing him.
Among the possible successors being discussed as the successor to the current PM, D.M. Jayarthana and Mithripala Sirisena are out of question as they are neither good in English nor capable of handling such important role. Susil Premjanyanth too, another possible candidate is not suitable to the post though his command of English reasonably better but not good enough to handle situations at hand demanded by the added role to future PM of SL.
In this context, Nimal Siripala de Silva will certainly be a successful successor considering his oratory skills, the command of English and similar experiences ( he played a very important role as the head of the peace delegation from SL during the failed round of discussions with LTTE in Norwegian brokered peace talks in 2002. Due to this reason minister Nimal Siripala de Silva was a top target of LTTE.).
Another possible candidate is Keheliya Rambukwella. Apart from having the similar skills and experiences like Siripala de Silva he has been very successful in countering the LTTE propaganda during Eelam war IV due to his candid and bold comments. (He had also been the top target of LTTE and was escaped by the assassination attempt by LTTE due to the capture of a member of LTTE assassination team. He had also been subjected to severe criticism in the Tamilnet).
Ministers Mahinda Samarasinhe, Sarath Amunugama and G.L. Peries will also certainly be a very successful candidate for the post considering their experiences, skills and abilities.
Gone are the days that factors such as the reliability, faithfulness to the president and being veteran to the party should be considered to be the PM of SL. The future PM of Sri Lanka’s role is different and will be playing a decisive role against the international forces who are hell bent in interfering our country’s sovereignty.
Basil is the best. We want a creative man. He is on the top.
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