04 Mar 2014 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
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As the rage of the battle for the upcoming Provincial elections is increasing, the burden is particularly heavy on team leaders of the political parties. Dailymirror interviewed Galle District JVP Team Leader Nalin Hewage to find out his winning strategy for the party.
.jpg) Q: In a recent TV debate you referred to the Southern Provincial Council as a “Wild Elephant and not a White Elephant”. Why did you say that?If it was a White Elephant at least people can be happy by looking at it although the maintenance is costly. But the Southern Provincial Council is a wild Elephant because it has not only cost dearly to the people but has also made their grievances far more acute. Q: Can you elaborate on this more? How exactly has the Council made the people suffer? For the last twenty five years, the Council was under UNP for five years and for twenty years with the SLFP. For all these years there seem to be no development at all. I say this because I have factual evidence. According to the statistics one school is closed for every thirty eight days in the Sothern Province. At the moment seventy nine small medium factories have been closed. The loss occurred by the sale of vehicle permits is around Rs. 1,000 million. If I am wrong anyone can challenge me. I have all the evidence. Q: Although you blame the current government, as it was in the power for two decades, they have had peoples’ consent. Can you really say that people are not contented? True, the SLFP was in power throughout. They could do so because they oppressed the media and did many illegal things violating election laws. Under the present regime, the SLFP could maintain their power as they boasted about war victory. At the same time, the family regime is continuing to spread. People have had enough. With a galore of drugs, ethanol and casinos people have come to a point which they can not bear anymore. But people need to be more educated. They know about the ongoing corruption and injustices but they do not still know the real scale of these vices. .jpg) Clearly the Council did not have plan. A Provincial Council needs to have a plan for five years and an action plan. These plans need to be upgraded and changed accordingly. But for almost twenty six years there has been no planQ: Are you saying that the Southern Provincial Council did not have a plan to resolve such issues? Clearly the Council did not have plan. A Provincial Council needs to have a plan for five years and an action plan. These plans need to be upgraded and changed accordingly. But for almost twenty six years there has been no plan. What has been done was uplifting each politician’s image. The dissolved SPC at times used its funds to give away sarees and other trivial things solely to expand the number of voters. They didn’t do what had to be done. The allocated funds were utilised aimlessly. Q: What would the JVP do differently to the two main parties in the district? JVP always has a plan. We have intelligent human resources and physical resources. We are fully equipped with talented people. Although I get elected through my preferential votes I always work according to the policy of my party. We started our journey from Tissamaharama Pradeshiya Sabha. By now we have been able to establish our party and its policies to a considerable level. Also we have been able to do a service to the Southern Province. When we won Tissamaharama, we did not limit our services there; we extended them to the entire Southern Province. We will carry forward this work. There is a decline of fundamental rights in the whole country. Thanks to Mahinda Rajapaksa people now realise the meaning of the saying, “Law is the Rulers’ will”. This has to be changed and we are working towards that. We have already started educating masses on these issues. With the people’s support, we will carry on our journey. We were never a third force. We were and we are the only alternate first force the people have. Therefore no one can replace us and there is no question about it. People are already fed up with the Rajapaksa government and also with the main Opposition. We will definitely win this electionQ: Don’t you think that General Fonseka’s Democratic Party will be a powerful third force and it will threaten your position as a third political force in the country? We do not agree with the statement that the JVP being the third force in the country. We were never a third force. We were and we are the only alternate first force the people have. Therefore no one can replace us and there is no question about it. People are already fed up with the Rajapaksa government and also with the main Opposition. We will definitely win this election. |
.jpg) Q: You claim that the UPFA governance has failed to fulfill people’s needs. On what basis do you say this?It is in fact clear to see that there is hardly any development in the area. Certain members of the Council itself say that there is not any development in the area. What more confirmation does any one need than that? Q: Irrespective of many claims by the Opposition, the UPFA managed to stay in power for twenty years and the UNP managed to stay in power only for five years. How can you be confident that there will be a shifting of power this time? Yes, we were in power only for few years. This is because attractive promises given by the government. Especially in 1994, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike gave impressive promises and some people were gullible enough to believe them. And later on she gave promises on war; she marketed war as one factor to gain power. Also she used her “Sudu Nelum” movement. After her, this government too continued to market the war. Then after the war victory they used that as a wand to gain power. The government has only war victory to boast about. But where is the development? Since the war is over they can allocate more money for development. But the so-called development is happening at a snail’s pace. I am not in favor of the existing system. Q: What is your opinion about the Democratic Party being a powerful force in the political arena? There is nothing to talk about them as they are not a powerful force. For them to be a powerful political force, what is the policy they have? What Democratic Party is engaged in is a hateful political journey. At the previous election they managed to secure a few seats at the parliamentary elections. But where are those people? They have conflicts within their party itself. They are not capable of being a powerful force. Q: What is UNP’s plan for Galle District and overall for the Southern Province? Our party has a plan. There is no issue about who is going to be the Chief Minister like in the UPFA. We will collectively work towards for the betterment of the district and the province. There is an abundance of natural resources in the area. We are hoping to take the maximum use of them. We will also employ the human resources in a more productive way. This election is mostly based on preferential votes. But at the end of the day what matters is team effort. Q: What is your opinion about kith and kin of the politicians entering to the field of politics? This is not new in politics. But this has come to a peak since Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa became President. What is now in existence is a tyrannical regime with their nearest and the dearest. On the other hand, the UNP always gave opportunity to the talented. What is practised by the UPFA gives a wrong message and it is not a good sign politically. Even in the UNP there were people who brought their kith and kin to politics, but a very few. Best example is Sajith Premadasa. Although his father was the President he took his own time to join politics. Even many other new comers who are successors of their parents are contesting this time. But still they start with the basics. There are no parachute jumpers into the field from the UNP. Q: There are many allegations levelled against the government on election law violations. What can you say about this? The Elections Commissioner attempts his level best to make it a free and fair election and make everybody abide by election laws. But the government does not care to abide by the laws. I am not sure whether this Elections Commissioner is also under stress like the previous Commissioner had been because of this situation. In Southern Province, there were many instances where election laws were flouted. The Commissioner specifically instructed not to have any opening ceremonies or any sort promotional campaigns for candidates. But this happens in a large way. All of a sudden, targeting the upcoming elections, the government has started many development programmes in haste. Teachers, students and even other government officials have become part of these events. I think some people have become victims of these bogus projects. The government is carrying out its election propaganda misusing its power to hoodwink the masses and obtain their votes like in the past. .jpg) The Elections Commissioner attempts to make it a free and fair election. But the government does not care to abide by the election laws. I am not sure whether this Elections Commissioner is also under stress like the previous Commissioner had been because of this situation.Q: With a number of squabbles going on in the UNP, do you think that the UNP can win the upcoming election? Indeed, this time there will be a powerful ‘green wave’. There will be a shifting of power. We have put forward a group of UNP candidates for the Galle district with a clean track record, good reputation, talent and commitment. Most voters are impressed by our candidates’ integrity and rally round us mainly because of this reason. Everything is in place to ensure the victory of the UNP. |
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