Former Mp, Nalin Bandara, who took over the position vacated by Kurunegala District MP Dayasiri Jayasekara, received 29,663 preferential votes at the last General Elections. Mr. Bandara currently serves as the organizer of the Bingiriya electorate. In a candid interview with the DailyMirror , Mr. Bandara shared the progress of his election campaign as well as his views on the present regime and the upcoming general elections. Following are the excerpts:
When taking over the Kurunegala District as a whole, what were the main issues that needed to be addressed?
Vanni Hathpatthuwa, Nikaweratiya, Galgamuwa, Yapahuwa, and a part of Wariyapola are all zones that are included in the Kurunegala District where the main source of income for people has always been paddy cultivation. Therefore the infrastructure for irrigation and farming needs to be further developed. Water from the Deduru Oya, Mee Oya and Siyamabalangamu Oya flows through the Vanni Hathpatthuwa but the water that comes from those areas is insufficient for the farmers to cultivate their lands for a year. Therefore special arrangements needed to be put in place to obtain more water from the Mahaveli River. Additionally we had plans to export traditional plants that grow in Kurunegala and make it an export zone.
In addition to that areas like Bingiriya, Kuliyapitiya, Katugampola and Dambadeniya are suitable for different industries and these too need a boost. Education is another sector that we need to highlight and also we need to upgrade industries like coconut and initiate more job opportunities for the people.
Some promises which were included in the 100-day-programme of the UNF government were not fulfilled. What comments do you have on this?
I ask you what were not fulfilled? When taking the country as a whole, the 13th amendment to the constitution was enacted under a lot of pressure from the 
opposition parties. A few Bills like the Right to Information Bill and the 20A had to be delayed.
We were a minority government but we assure to you that after the UNP government takes over on August 17, we will fulfill all promises that we made to the people without exception.
Even though we couldn’t achieve certain goals within the 100-day-programme we addressed the people’s welfare and made sure that they were more financially sound. Within these 6 months a huge amount of money was saved. During the time of the ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he utilized this money for mega projects and wasted a lot of public funds. But Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is a leader who makes sure that people in rural areas have enough money while developing the infrastructure and other facilities within these areas. So this is the difference between the two regimes.
Initially President Maithripala Sirisena said that he will have only 25 - 30 members in the cabinet but today it has increased to 88. Why did this happen?
This government was installed only for a short term. Therefore President Sirisena had to outlaw certain rules for the betterment of the country especially for decisions like the 19A. He did this because he wanted the assistance of the SLFP as well. When considering the benefit that this amendment brought to the country, I think it is far more important than the decision taken to limit the number of ministers in the Cabinet.
In your opinion do you think it is a wise decision taken by ex-President Rajapaksa to contest from the Kurunegala District?
Mahinda Rajapaksa constructed highways, a convention centre, a harbour and even a airport in Hambantota, but none of these have contributed to the success of the people there. During that entire time no locals were given jobs because everything was done by the Chinese. But people still had faith in him. There is a road with six lanes leading from Hambantota to the Mattala Airport. People thought that this will be a boost to their lifestyles; that they will be able to start new business by the side of the road. But today people use this road to dry spices and grains.
There are no planes entering the airport and there are no passengers on this road. Therefore their dreams have evaporated. Whatever they have saved is a result of the cost-cutting that we did within the 100-day programme. The people in Hambantota are intelligent and therefore they saw the difference between the existing regime and the previous one. MR is not close to the people in the Kurunegala District like he is to those in Hambantota. He thinks it is an easy game to win this district. But we will see what happens with the outcome of the August 17 elections.
"Even though we couldn’t achieve certain goals within the 100-day-programme we addressed the people’s welfare and made sure that they were more financially sound. Within these 6 months a huge amount of money was saved"
President Maithripala Sirisena appointed certain notorious people to work as organizers in their respective electorates. Will this not show that they have the support of the President to carry out their various illegal practices?
Many politicians in the opposition wanted to side with the President but he made sure that not everybody will be in his team. The techniques he used to choose certain people might have some complications.
When taking these people alone we don’t know who are with them and who are not. But whatever decision he has taken will benefit cthe country in the long-term.
His only goal is to see that Ranil Wickremesinghe is elected Prime Minister and he has clearly stated that ex-President Rajapaksa will not win this time. President Sirisena has a challenge when maintaining a balance between the two parties. But he has done his best for the betterment of the country.
In the past the SLFP gained minority votes with the support of parties like the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and even from people like Karuna. What plans does the UNP government have to secure a majority of those seats this time round?
We are confident that we will be able to win more than 120 seats. There are many parties who have joined hands with us. Only a few parties like the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are not with us. But we definitely believe that we will be able to secure a majority of seats and whatever the decision we take will have to be taken after we see the result of the August 17 elections.
Pic by Kithsiri De Mel
