Ranil’s uncle, after winning with a five-sixth mandate, changed the constitution, became the executive president, and delivered a wonderful speech in Kandy.
When this proportionate system is implemented no party would get two third of MPs even we too will not get two third. Mrs Bandaranayake has sent me a letter and comments in that ‘you all take away the civic rights, because you have two third of power. After this when proposals brought against you since not getting the two third no UNP MPs will lose the civic rights’. No party will get two thirds both government and opposition have to unite to get the two third’.
J.R Jayawardene,
Kandy.
10.11.1980
J.R.’s this prediction was made wrong by Mahinda, and Gotabaya. J.R made this prediction after very careful calculations and bringing in the proportionate system into the election system. However in 2010 Mahinda and in 2020 Gotabaya held elections under proportionate system and demonstrated obtaining the two third.
J.R.’s old story comes to mind when one hear his nephew’s prediction.
‘No party has 50% …’
This prediction Ranil made in Nuwaraeliya.
‘ Ranil says in the next Presidential election no party would poll 50% votes ‘
After listening to Ranil’s prediction this is what someone said. Ranil is very clever to make such predictions. Since 1995 from the time he became the UNP leader he calculated north votes, estate votes, and eastern and entire country’s Muslim votes put together and in a presidential election when the Sinhala votes are divided he can win . Ranil lost both 1999, and 2005 election due to this this calculation. He got North east Tamil votes, estate Tamil votes, eastern province and other areas Muslim votes he got, but he could not get Sinhala Buddhist votes. In 2005 he did not get north Tamil votes and south Sinhala votes.
Ranil made a calculation in 2020 and said Samagi Ganabalawegaya would poll maximum seven lakhs.
‘political giants such as Lalith , Gamini. Premachandra broke away from UNP and polled only 10 lakhs, how much can a person like Sajith could poll…?
Ranil told this to those who came to listen to his predictions.
Ranil chief is correct. wait and see the crash Sajith would face in Colombo , Colombo seven all votes, professionals votes all with Ranil Chief, Colombo minority votes goes to Ranil in ‘chock-a-block’ This is what people listen to Ranil’s prediction said then. But in 2020 elections Ranil could not poll even 20,000 votes. Ranil who could not poll 20,000 votes in Colombo how could he poll 60 lakhs in 2020 presidential election.
UNP in the 2020 from the entire country polled only 2% votes.
How can Ranil convert this 2% to 50%? ‘
Not that he is not aware of this fact, To console himself and the ones round him he tell this because he has nothing to tell.
The worst presidential election in Sri Lanka’s presidential election history was the 1988 presidential election. During the 1988 presidential election, the JVP launched a boycott. Voters who cast their ballots were killed. People voted in fear of death. That vote was a deadly vote. But Premadasa polled 50%.
‘If people gave 50% to a candidate in an election that was in the middle of bloodshed, will people not give 50% to the candidate who wins, in a period like 2024 or any other time in history?
The next difficult election in history was the 2005 presidential election in which Ranil contested. During the 2005 presidential election, a vote boycott was launched in the North East. But Mahinda polled 50% from the south.
The 2024 presidential election is the election in which the largest number of voters will vote in Sri Lanka’s political history because during the aragalaya, the entire country realized how much politics affects their daily lives. Among the people who came to the struggle from all over the country at that time, there were many people who disliked politics who had never casted a vote. It is certain that all of these will go to the polls for the 2024 presidential election.
‘But when there are more candidates, isn’t the votes get divided…?’
The 2019 presidential election in Sri Lanka had the highest number of candidates. Gotabaya came from Podujana Peramuna. Sajith Premadasa from U.N.P. Anura Kumara from JVP. General Mahesh Senanayake, who suppressed the Easter bombers, also appeared. Duminda Nagamuwa from the front line socialist party came forward, all together 35 candidates appeared. But the winning candidate got 52.25%.
So the opinion that no one can get 50% became false right there.
The 2024 presidential election is about a year away. By June 2024, the major parties must announce their candidates. During Maithripala’s presidency, when the 2019 presidential election was exactly one year away, all the Sri Lanka Freedom Party MPs who were with Maithri against the Rajapaksas left Maithri and joined the Rajapaksa.
The reason is knowing that Maithri will not get presidential candidacy from U.N.P. or Podujana Peramuna. They understood that if Maithri became the SLFP presidential candidate, they could not win, and they could not support a losing candidate.
In a few months, Ranil will also have to face this bitterness. Knowing this from the day Ranil became president, he started planting news to show his strength.
The news planted from the day he became president in 2022 until February 2023 is that he will dissolve the parliament as soon as he gets the power to dissolve the parliament. After he got that power, that news went under.
From February 2022, the news plants said that Ranil is going for an emergency presidential election, and the most favourable election for him is the presidential election. But when Samagi Jana Balavegaya decided Sajith as the presidential candidate, that plant stopped.
Now Ranil himself has come out and say that no candidate can get 50%.
This is the theory that Ranil will maintain until his presidential power culminate in 2024. No one gave any consideration to this theory.
Lalit, everyone knows that I am retiring in 1988. No one listens to me now. Can you appeal to the nation not to act violently…?
‘This is the request made by J.R., who was extremely helpless, to Lalith one year before the 1988 presidential election. The last day of the Executive President’s term of office is like the last day of a retiring policeman.