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by Hana Ibrahim

Kesaralal Gunasekera, the chief PA organiser for Ratmalana is confident that come election day, the masses will vote in a PA government, because the people of the country prefer a people's government.

"They may complain, find fault and even scream foul, but when it comes to the crunch, they will vote for the PA because it has not lost its humane touch," says the gentleman politician who believes in remaining true to the ideals of his mentor, the late Lalith Athulathmudali, who formed the DUNF after being expelled from the UNP in 1991.

An Athulathmudali stalwart who deems crossovers unethical and undemocratic, especially if the politician changing sides seek to enter parliament through the National List, Gunasekera recalls an Athulathmudali vow never ever to join the UNP and asks how he could leave the PA, although others may have done so.

Gunasekera, co-ordinating secretary to Athulathmudali, entered parliament on the PA National List in 1994, when the membership of DUNF, under the leadership of Srimani Athulathmudali decided to back the People's Alliance. The intervening years have succeeded in relegating the remnants of the party to obscurity with even the leader swapping allegiance. But Gunasekera has remained steadfast in his convictions and the belief that the PA can deliver what the late leader envisaged.

His conviction is based on the fact that the PA is following the footsteps of Athulathmudali, especially in the economic sphere. "The main policy regarding the economy is open market. I don't see much of a change," he says, although pragmatic enough to accept that loopholes in the policy need to be plugged and the sky rocketing cost of living need to be brought down.

"The cost of living is unbearable," he accepts, and claims that the government is looking into it, but dismisses UNP boasts of being able to bring down prices as a mere myth.

"Nowhere in the world has the cost of living gone down. What we need to do is give stability to prices." Gunasekera's solution is to increase production, ensure that unwanted goods do not enter the country and introduce import restrictions.

The shortcoming notwithstanding, he doesn't believe the country's economy is verging on bankruptcy and accuses the UNP of carrying out a distorted campaign that malignes the achievements of the past few years. "The world economy has taken a beating, various economies have been affected," Gunasekera says, pointing out that Sri Lanka has maintained the economy at a reasonable level.

He draws attention to the fact that a number of small businesses have sprung up during the past few years which has resulted in a drop in individual profit margins because total business is being shared. "This however doesn't mean the economy is crashing," Gunasekera points out explaining that the PA has been working towards a rural economy by encouraging more small scale entrepreneurs to set up business.

He terms the UNP argument childish, but points out that the businessmen who claim the economy is a disaster are the ones who are doing well. "The poster campaigns are a clear exhibition of their success. They are spending more now. So in such a context no one can claim that the economy is taking a beating."

An old boy of S. Thomas' College and an accountant by profession, Gunasekera who became seriously involved in politics in 1979, questions the UNP boast of having quality people to manage and guide the economy better than the PA, when the only two people talking about the economy are G.L. Pieris and S.B. Dissanayake. "Having those two talk about the economy shows just show how bankrupt they are," he quips.

Articulate and accomplished, with social services as his particular forte, he identifies the economy, education, vocational training, Samurdhi development as areas that he is interested and areas that he would love to get attached to.

Commenting on the education restructuring programme which commenced when he was an MP, Gunasekera explains that the reforms had been well thought out and researched and presented in parliament for necessary amendments and approval from all parties before it was implemented. The UNP had accepted the changes, but in the party's election manifesto last year they had promised to change the A/L programme.

Gunasekera views such reneging as unethical and wonders whether they had deliberately omitted education in their manifesto this year because they had realised they made a mistake and avoided the issue altogether.

The former chairman of the Lotteries Board and member of the Dehiwala Mt. Lavinia Municipal Council, Gunasekera is also sceptical about the UNPs denial of its LTTE connections. Various stories are being spread around, but the UNP motives have never been clear, he says claiming that there appears to be a hidden agenda between the UNP and the LTTE. The Tamil Party Alliance making clear their stance makes the denial paints a difficult picture to comprehend, he says.

The scepticism finds firm foothold in the UNP manifesto which offers an interim government to the LTTE. "Offering an interim government to a bunch of people armed to the teeth is the certain path to anarchy. This is giving legal power to destroy," Gunasekera says, pointing out that the UNP offers a negotiated political settlement only as an afterthought to the interim government.

The UNP position notwithstanding he believes the solution to the ethnic problem is a negotiated settlement and believes that the changing global trends - time to stop terrorism world over - benefits Sri Lanka. "We should press for support from leading countries to get the LTTE onto the negotiating table, but only after disarming them," he says.

Gunasekera is hopeful of the PA getting a clear mandate this time around, and bases that hope on history and preference- where people have never voted to change the form of governance, and would prefer the president and parliament to be of the same government.

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