The postal voting for the Western and Southern Provinces will start in a few days. The election field is tensed and the rush is escalating day by day. Gampaha District which has a historical background for political families and strong political personalities. It is one of the districts which draws a lot of attention. The Team Leaders from UPFA and UNP for the Gampaha district told Dailymirror that they will bow down for their respective party’s decision with regard to the post of Chief Minister.

Election laws should be revised - Prasanna Ranathunga The Western Provincial Council (WPC) is one of the most developed councils in Sri Lanka. The fray is heightened day by day and for seniors it is a battle to protect the empires they have built. In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Mirror, Former Chief Minister for WPC Prasanna Ranathunga discussed many issues facing PCs as well as the political atmosphere of the country. Q: While you were heading the western province, a number of black marks were created in the very own districts you represent. These were Rathupaswela killings over the water crisis and the killing of a worker in the Free Trade zone, Katunayake. What is your comment? Incidents like this generally occur when there is an election. We experienced the same sort of thing few days before the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM). There is political backing behind these incidents. Certain parties try to take political gains out of these incidents. The incident occurred in Katunayake, with regard to the pension scheme also happened when there was an election around the corner. Even the incid e n t t h a t o c c u r re d i n Rathupaswela was the same. Some of the key persons who lead the Rathupaswela incident are contesting in the upcoming Provincial elections. One is contesting from the UNP and another is contesting from the JVP for the Gampaha District. This shows that people who lead did not come out of the love for the people but for their gains. We must look into who led these people. However, I do not justify any of the incidents that took place. Also I give my full assurance to the people that the f actory i n Rathupaswela will be removed shortly. There will be many conspiracies to rally the people against the government saying that such action will not be taken. I emphasize that the people do not have to worry, the factory will be shut down. Q: A powerful Minister stated that you will be the Chief Minister this time. Has the party given you an assurance in this regard? This incident happened in Minuwangoda, when the President Mahinda Rajapaksa came to address a meeting. There he said whether to announce my name as the Chief Ministerial candidate, to which I said no. However, this incident was related by the Minister Basil Rajapaksa. That is all. Q: Does that mean that you do not wish to be the Chief Minister? I respect the decision of the party. If party nominates someone who the party decides as suitable I will respect that decision. If the party decides that I am suitable to be the Chief Minister, I would take up the position. Whatever the decision the party takes I am with the party. " There seem to be less violence reported this time. The main issue is the publicity campaigns. That again happens because candidates want to increase their preferences. Whether we like or not there are instances sometimes these laws are violated by us. I emphasize time has come to renew or revise election laws which will suit the present time. " Q: However, the others contesting from the UPFA have said that they are more suitable to be the chief minister to be chosen by the President? What is your comment? I do not see any fault with that. There are many candidates and it is natural to have a competition to make sure that people recognise them. Competition is healthy for an election like this. Even in 2009, there were many candidates who called themselves as the Chief Minister and even former Chief Ministers contested. Despite that I managed to secure 186,000 votes. I believe the election laws should be revised. Not every candidate can afford to spend large amounts of money for their campaigns. Under the existing system everybody is in a battle to promote their numbers. Even within the same party this can create a competition among members. Therefore it is essential to have a revision on election laws. I would sug g e s t i f t h e E l e c t i o n Commissioner can intervene and give equal space to all the candidates representing all the parties, then the hassle would be reduced to some extent. However, we are advised to work as a team. Especially, Minister Basil Rajapaksa told us to set an example to the country. In fact there is a competition among the candidates. But you can see candidates from the UPFA share the same stage. That is the unity and the strength we have. Q: But these incidents have proven beyond doubt that there is major disunity within the UPFA due to the hunger for power and posts. Do you agree? I do not deny the fact that there is competition. As I said earlier there is competition among members of the same party due to the Preferential Voting system, which we cannot stop. But that does not mean that there is a disunity in the party or power hunger. Q: Politically, Gampaha is the stronghold of your family. Recently there were incidents reported about youth unrest and a reputed school in the area was shut down. Why has the Provincial Council failed to solve the problems in the schools in your province? There are few individuals behind that incident who led the students. This was done in order to accomplish their personal gains. As a Provincial Councillor we cannot interfere into such matters as the schools come under the Central Government. Hence, we cannot give political solutions. Q: Since 2009 other than developing roads with Chinese loans, no major changes with regard to development has taken place? What is your comment? How can one say there is no major development? For 30 years this country suffered from a brutal war. Political stability was threatened. After 2009 only the country and its leaders could focus on the development work. From 2009 there is a rapid development in the infrastructure of the country. The Opposition always blamed us demanding whether highways are enough to fill empty stomach. But they never spoke about the man-hours we save through these roads. For example with the Galle- Colombo highway, people can travel to Colombo within one hour. Q: There seem to be lot of young blood coming into politics. Do you see them as a threat? Not at all; we all work as a team. There are many young candidates who tell people to give one vote to the former Chief Minister and then vote for others. We have a good understanding and a team spirit. I see the youth’s entering politics as a good sign. Q: What is your opinion with regard to the 13th Amendment? There are those who hold the view that PC system is another white elephant and just another means of wasting public funds. Do you agree? At its inception we were against it, yet when it was incorporated we acted accordingly. The opposition blamed that Provincial Council is a white elephant. But we proved that we were able to reach the village, its people through this. But if people say that they do not need this, we will have to listen to them. We must respect their point of view. My personal view is that power must be decentralised. I commend that UNP was always s u p p o r t ive of the 13th Amendment, it was only few parties who were against it. Q: The PC system was forcibly introduced by India in 1988 as a solution to the ethnic crisis and war. Now the war is over and do you think that it is still necessary? Twenty five years for the system is a very short period. Yet it is a good period to have a discussion on its powers and positions. It is not essentially to get rid of the system, but we can have a discussion on its future. Q:  Do you think that more powers should be given to Provincial Councils including the Northern PC? I would say no. If you mean police powers, the Provincial Council does not need to have police powers. More than a province we must look at the country, the bigger picture. At a moment where the country is under international pressure and there is a threat to the national security I believe there should not be an inclusion of powers. The powers vested w i t h t h e P r o v i n c i a l Councils are enough to carry out its functions and to serve the people. We have the laws enacted enabling to carry on work and we are given funds. But I would say that we need more cooperation from the central government. During my tenure I always got their support. But the issues arise due to attitude certain officials. We face difficulties when there is a shortage of of ficials. We always have to resort to the Central Government . It would have been b e t t e r i f t h e Provincial Council can manage such affairs. I firmly believe that we can go for a better and a more successful journey if everybody focuses on their duties and the country. Q:  There seem to be lot of complaints with regard to election violations. Do you accept this? There seem to be less violence reported this time. The main issue is the publ i c i t y campaigns. That again happens because candidates want to increase their preferences. Whether we like or not there are instances sometimes these laws are violated by us. I emphasize time has come to renew or revise election laws which will suit the present time. Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

Govt. does not treat the root cause but only applies plasters to problems   - Edward Gunasekara  Former United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarian, Edward Gunasekara is contesting for the upcoming Provincial Council elections. He is the group leader for the Gampaha district from the UNP. Being a member of Parliament he said he is experienced and is capable to work for the Provincial Council. The former Parliamentarian said that he would focus on bringing reforms and correcting the loop-holes in the Provincial Council if he is elected as the Chief Minister. Q: Why do you contest for a Provincial Council election instead of a Parliamentary election as you are a former parliamentarian? To serve the people it does not matter where you are. The importance must be laid on the service not in the position or the place. In many developed countries in the world the members of the parliament do work for other counties or provinces. When one is elected to the parliament it gives a lot of e x p e r i e n c e and exposure. This enables them to do a better service when they are appointed to a province. What is important is centralizing the power. People might say that the funds are limited and the powers are limited in the Provincial Council. But one must understand that we are engaged in politics. Today the reason for occurrence of many issues in Provincial Councils is there is a lacuna of well experienced pers o n a l i t i e s . Therefore I believe with the exposure I got while being in the Parliament will help me to render a service for the betterment of the Western Province. Q: You crossed over to the government in 2007 and you were appointed as the Deputy Minister Railways. Why is that? I was in the government for 62 days. In 2005, when President Mahinda Rajapaksa won, complete power was centralized in him. To do service one needs power to some extent. Therefore I decided to join the government. But I realized that decision was a great mistake. After I joined the gover nment people who were around ignored me. Also many accusations were levelled against me. That I crossed over because I got money. This I felt really depressing. It affected my family too. More over the people who appointed me to serve them realized that joining the government was a wrong decision. If those people ignored me, whom am I going to serve? Therefore I decided to re-join the opposition. But I never criticized the opposition during the sixty two days I was with the government, nor did I criticised the government when I joined the UNP. " To serve the people it does not matter where you are. The importance must be laid on the service and not in the position or the place. In many developed countries in the world the members of parliament do work for other counties or provinces. When one is elected to parliament it gives a lot of experience and exposure. " Q: You are a Parliamentarian representing the Gampaha District. During the past few weeks there were issues reported with regard to youth unrest. What is your opinion in this regard? Under the existing political environment people are suppressed and oppressed. It is the youth who are highly affected. The government does not seem to be treating the root causes of problems, instead they put plasters. It is essential to seek the help of experienced educationists. I may not be an educationist but I can say that we need to reform our educational system. The politicians can do this within the power they have. What is happening now is that the politicians try to manipulate the system. There must be a reform in the system. Q: The UNP lost Gampaha District in the recent elections. Why is that? It is accepted that Gampaha, especially areas like Attanagala are strong SLFP voter based areas. But there are times we changed people’s attitude and won. People are not ready to accept the ongoing corruption and suf fering. When you observe from Kelaniya to Katana and to Negombo there is hardly any good governance and there is no clean politician representing the government. Also at the current election look at the people who are contesting from the UPFA. The majority are people who come from political backgrounds. Daughters, nephews of the politicians are in the fray. There may be many other suitable and qualified candidates who are eligible to contest and they are never given an opportunity. Q: Do you think that the UNP will have any luck in the Gampaha District this time? Definitely yes, now the voters are educated. They are fed up with the existing system. They may be misguided by certain things. Sometimes people tend to be attracted by benefits given by politicians. But I know that they cannot be fooled any more. The best example is the North Western Provincial election. Some of the candidates gave away loads of sarees, mobile phones and other fancy items. What was the result? They did not get what they expected. Therefore, I do not think people in Gampaha also can be fooled everyday. Q: Many say that it is high time for a change in the UNP leadership. Do you think that there should be a change in the leadership? More than the members of the UNP it was the government who created the whole issue of change of leadership. By this they benefitted. Of course our leader lacks certain qualities which President Rajapaksa has. For example a sporty physique and carrying children so on and so forth. But I know one thing. If he is in power he is capable of bringing our economy back to track. He might not have looks and the PR but he is well exposed and experienced in handling the economy and many other important aspects such as facing International Community. Q: Do you hope to be the Chief Minister? Being a Chief Minister is a huge responsibility. It is essential to have someone with experience and education. I would respect any decision taken by the Leadership of the UNP with regard to the Chief Minister. If the Party appoints a member whom they believe as suitable I would respect that decision. If I am elected as the Chief Minister I believe I am capable of holding the position. For instance when Chandrika Bandaranaike became the Chief Minister she was inexperienced. And that definitely had its effects. Since I am experienced and also being in parliament I know what areas we need to improve. Therefore if the party decides that I am competent to be the Chief Minister I am prepared to hold the position. Q: If you are elected what are the plans you have? I would work for the people who have gone through prejudices and whose rights are violated. Also there are many areas which need reforms in the Provincial Council. As an experienced and a full time politician I have recognized these areas. I would have my complete attention on the reforms. Apart from these I would focus on empowerment of women and job opportunities for them. But my main concern is to correct the areas which need reform and upgrading.