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I was asked to comment on what I thought of the leadership election by one of my blog readers, as I am working for a prominent UNP Member of Parliament and quite involved in the nuances and the intrigues that go on behind closed doors. However understandably I do not wish to be drawn into making comments which are often misconstrued in interpretation especially in Sri Lanka. I therefore do not wish to divulge information that I am privy to because of the confidential nature of some of it and I may then be accused of misusing the trust placed in me.

On Monday soon after the fracas at Siri Kotha, I had dinner with 6 UNP Members of Parliament, so I am privy to many a conversation, which I wish to keep private. This is a country that thrives on rumor and innuendo, and worse the public is always vastly misinformed about many aspects of real news, due to the bias of the Media, both written and TV, which does not give any objective reporting.

If one only read the Sunday papers this week, all of which I was able to look at, one would know that the information that the so called pundits forecast are all figments of their imagination, based on months of misinformation in the Media. The reality is completely different and then people are expected to be in shock at the outcome. That is what happens in any situation when reporting is either one sided or is not objective, both of which are firmly rooted in the local media.

All I wish to comment on is that the result was even more decisive than I had predicted which should have given rise to a renewed confidence that all the problems in the past were behind the party, so that we can concentrate our efforts on our plan to rebuild the grass roots organization and empower a confidence in the vision we have for the future of this country, that we are developing.

My objective view is that the members wanting the elections got what they asked for and were happy with all the terms of the secret ballot, as well as the filling up of the vacancies in the Working Committee. It is therefore inappropriate that once they lost they should find fault with the whole process, and act like sore losers instead of being gracious in defeat. It is time to work together and unify the party. All the factions must work together to achieve the common goals.

We have an enormous task at hand which we are carrying out irrespective of the party leadership matters that we do not allow to distract us from our objectives. We do not have time on our sides to perform all we have to do, nor the funds to fight the establishment. We therefore have to be efficient and productive.