“Our Opposition Leader is like the sacred crow’s Bo tree. You can’t cut it down because people worship it, yet you can’t leave it alone because crows keep roosting on it.”
J.R.P. Suriyapperuma made this remark—not about just anyone, but about the then Opposition Leader J.R. Jayewardene.
During the United Front government of 1970–1977, J.R. served as opposition leader. At the time, young UNP figures such as J.R.P. Suriyapperuma and Jinadasa Niyathapala, who wanted Rukman Senanayake—the heir to the Senanayake political family—to become opposition leader, accused J.R. of failing to challenge the government effectively.
When Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike sought to extend her government’s term by two years, J.R. proposed that all UNP MPs resign their seats and contest by-elections as a protest. Many MPs opposed the idea. In the end, J.R. resigned alone, contested a by-election, and returned to Parliament. However, he still failed to stop the government’s constitutional extension.
J.R.’s biography describes his response this way:
“He decided, at least temporarily, to remain silent. Seeing what they viewed as his weakness, critics within his own party became bolder. They mocked him as a leader who marched a thousand followers to the top of a mountain, only to lead them back down again.”
J.R. endured all the criticism. In the end, he became Prime Minister and later Sri Lanka’s first Executive President. Ironically, those like Rukman Senanayake who once claimed J.R. lacked courage eventually ended up quietly helping his government.
The same accusation was later directed at Anura Bandaranaike when he became Opposition Leader after the UNP came to power.
“Anura has struck a deal with the government. It was J.R. himself who made him Opposition Leader.”
Those making the accusation included Anura’s own brother-in-law Vijaya Kumaratunga, his sister Chandrika Kumaratunga, senior SLFP leaders, and left-wing politicians.
Yet, in the 1988 presidential election, Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Anura fought a fierce campaign against UNP candidate Ranasinghe Premadasa. Ironically, Ossi Abeygunasekera—once a close ally of Vijaya, who had accused Anura of making deals with the government—entered the race as a third candidate with the backing of the Communist Party and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, splitting Sirimavo’s vote and helping Premadasa secure victory.
Following the 1989 general election, Sirimavo Bandaranaike became Opposition Leader. Anura and several younger MPs complained that she was not confronting the Premadasa government aggressively enough. Eventually, however, it was Sirimavo who spearheaded the impeachment attempt against Premadasa. Many of the younger MPs who had branded her as weak—including Anura himself—later crossed over to the UNP.
In 1994, when Ranil Wickremesinghe became Opposition Leader, he too was accused of lacking courage, mainly by supporters of Gamini Dissanayake.
When Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government launched bribery investigations into senior UNP figures, including Vijeyapala Mendis, Ranil suspended Mendis from the UNP Working Committee to demonstrate that the party would not tolerate corruption. Senior party members accused Ranil of doing the government’s bidding. Nevertheless, Ranil expelled Mendis in an effort to portray the UNP as a clean party.
In 2002, Ranil went on to defeat Chandrika politically and became Prime Minister. Many of the senior UNP figures who had labelled him weak later joined Chandrika’s camp.
When Mahinda Rajapaksa became Opposition Leader during Ranil’s premiership, Chandrika loyalists and the JVP also accused him of having a secret deal with Ranil.
“Mahinda isn’t playing the role of Opposition Leader properly because Ranil put him there.”
They openly claimed Mahinda was carrying out Ranil’s agenda in Parliament. Yet Mahinda later defeated Ranil, became Prime Minister, and eventually President.
So isn’t the very same accusation once levelled against J.R., Anura, Sirimavo, Ranil and Mahinda now being directed at Sajith Premadasa?
When Sajith became Opposition Leader in 2020, the narrative that he lacked courage was first promoted by Ranil Wickremesinghe—still disappointed at losing the Opposition leadership—and by Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the JVP.
“Sajith has a deal with Gotabaya Rajapaksa.”
That was the allegation at the time.
Yet before the Aragalaya protest movement reached its peak, it was Sajith who led a massive public march to the Presidential Secretariat demanding that Gotabaya resign.
When Gotabaya invited Sajith to become Prime Minister, Sajith refused unless three conditions were met: a six-month interim government had to be formed, the Executive Presidency had to be abolished, and Gotabaya had to step down.
While Sajith insisted on those conditions, Ranil—who had accused Sajith of having a deal with Gotabaya—accepted the premiership through what critics described as the “back door,” without imposing any conditions.
The Rajapaksa family elevated Ranil to Prime Minister and later President because they believed eliminating Sajith as a political rival would make it easier for Namal Rajapaksa to eventually become leader.
After becoming President, Ranil entered the 2024 presidential election expecting Anura Kumara Dissanayake to defeat Sajith.
Today, many of the same Ranil loyalists who campaigned for Anura are once again claiming that Sajith lacks courage.
At the time, their political analysis sounded like this:
- “The next presidential election will be a battle between the Left and the Right.”
- “Ranil and Anura will lead that battle.”
- “By the next presidential election, Sajith won’t even have enough supporters to field a campaign.”
- “Ranil will politically destroy Sajith and absorb the SJB back into the UNP.”
In the end, however, the real contest was between Anura and Sajith. Ranil’s participation ultimately helped Anura defeat Sajith.
Sajith’s supporters now ask:
“If those same people now say Sajith lacks courage because Anura won, shouldn’t they have backed Sajith in 2024 if their real objective was to defeat Anura?”
Today, those most vocal in claiming Sajith lacks courage include Ranil himself, who entered the 2024 race in circumstances that ultimately benefited Anura.
Also among them are sections of the SLFP, which supported Ranil during the Aragalaya and blocked Sajith from becoming Prime Minister under an all-party arrangement. Knowing Ranil was unlikely to win, they nevertheless worked to ensure Sajith’s defeat.
Had those SLFP ministers resigned from the Rajapaksa government when Ranil was appointed Acting President and instead insisted on replacing him with a consensus Prime Minister acceptable to all parties to form an all-party government, Anura would not be President today.
The Rajapaksa family also calculated that a Sajith presidency would leave no political future for Namal Rajapaksa, making Ranil the safer choice.
In Sri Lanka, becoming Opposition Leader requires as much political fortune as becoming President.
A President must win over 50 per cent of the vote. An Opposition Leader is the leader of the largest opposition party in Parliament. It is the people who have chosen that person to lead the opposition.
Constantly branding the Opposition Leader as weak does not weaken the government. It only strengthens it.
And when that government eventually falls into crisis, the first people to rush forward to rescue it are often the very same people who once insisted that the Opposition Leader lacked the courage to lead.
