by Our Correspondent in Colombo
Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has delivered a pointed warning to the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), arguing that the party is overconfident in its own political strength and cannot defeat the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) on its own.
Speaking last night to a group of journalists invited to a dinner hosted by him, Wickremesinghe said the SJB appeared to believe that it could win the next political battle independently, describing that expectation as a “pipedream”. Multiple sources familiar with the meeting said Wickremesinghe nevertheless made clear that he favoured broader political cooperation within the Opposition.
“SJB thinks that they can win this alone, which is a pipedream,” Wickremesinghe told the journalists.
His position, according to those familiar with his remarks, is that the SJB may not want political cohabitation with the UNP, but that Opposition parties cannot afford to remain divided if they are serious about challenging the NPP. Rather than waiting for a future election and attempting to build an alliance at the last moment, he argued that a collective political arrangement should be established now.
The warning comes as Opposition parties continue to struggle to establish a tangible political arrangement. Despite efforts to bring different groups together, the question of whether the SJB and UNP can move beyond limited cooperation remains unresolved.
Wickremesinghe also told the journalists that the government was rapidly losing political favour among the public, particularly among the Sinhalese Buddhist community. At the same time, he observed that the Anura Kumara Dissanayake movement appeared to have gained additional confidence among minority communities.
Assessing the leadership of President Dissanayake and his team, the former president said immaturity was visible throughout the administration. He warned that the long-term consequences could be destructive for the country, with the eventual outcome potentially unpredictable and irreversible.
On the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, Wickremesinghe said he did not expect a referendum to be held and believed the probability of the amendment receiving the required two-thirds parliamentary majority was high.
He nevertheless argued that the country was not heading towards an easy economic future. According to Wickremesinghe, the government was increasingly concealing the reality of what was coming, particularly because it appeared to have no tangible plan for economic stabilisation or for dealing with the country’s creditors.
He also criticised certain “economic experts” in other political parties, including the SJB, for allegedly being reluctant to tell the public the truth about the economic situation. Some participants at the dinner responded by describing such conduct as the habitual “double-game”, accusing politicians of failing to put the interests of the country and the public first.
Wickremesinghe further criticised the Central Bank, asserting that it was “cooking up the story” instead of confronting economic realities and communicating the true facts to the public.
Against this backdrop, he warned that political instability could emerge at any given moment. The former president therefore urged all Opposition parties to be prepared to seize such an opportunity rather than allowing another period of political chaos to develop.
