Building economy with patriotic forces

Environment and Natural Resources Minister Champika Ranawaka said in an interview with the Daily News that the upcoming General Election will be one of Sri Lanka’s fairest and most peaceful elections with no strings of fear psychosis attached to it. Following are the excerpts of the interview on winning the election under the Proportional Representation system.

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

Q: How confident are you of winning the General Election?

Minister Champika Ranawaka

A: The country’s political history has changed after the 2005 election. The country’s politics till 2005 had been dominated by a fear psychosis created by LTTE terrorism. With the country achieving its liberation from the clutches of terrorism last year under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership, the decades of political and social unrest have ended .

Today there is no such fear psychosis felt by the public as the Government has established democracy , freedom of movement and peace across the country. The people now live in a country that is free from fear and doubt and under one law.

The people’s political consciousness has matured and changed since then which has led to a landmark transition in politics. The people’s thinking has transformed from blurry opposition partisan politics to national politics.

It is apparent that the United National Party (UNP) can no longer hold its fort by harping on their usual chord that they have the power of 50 percent public votes. Their party has fragmented into something like a minority alliance.

This stands to prove that people are breaking away from partisan politics to develop the country on a national footing. That is why many UNP members have stepped down from their party to rally round a national program. They have agreed to uphold and support Mahinda Chinthana national program under President Rajapaksa’s leadership. They have joined the United People’s Liberation Front (UPFA) for this reason.

The JVP is also fragmenting. This stands to reason that divisions of partisan politics are falling apart and national minded politics is shaping up. Patriotic elements in both UNP and JVP have stepped down from their parties to support the Mahinda Chinthana.

There is no question of the UPFA winning this election. Not only will we win, we will also get a stable government with the highest number of seats in the history.

Q: Usually the UPFA had faired poorly at elections in Colombo and urban areas. Do you think that this could change in the General Election?

A: What really happened then was that some smaller sections of communities did not vote for the UPFA as a result of the propaganda carried out by ethnically biased parties such as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and individuals like Mano Ganeshan. However, we plan to introduce a program called Pura Neguma for these people.

These sections seemed to be coming out in the open as of today, and they will soon stop being misguided and understand that they are part of this nation.

Q: The UNP is claiming it is the only party that has a policy of economic growth and will provide goods at lower prices. How do you compare this position with the UPFA’s records?

It is a much publicized lie by the UNP that they say they are the sole saviours of the country’s economy. The so called neo - liberal economic policies which they have been trying to impose on Sri Lanka, have been defeated globally.

During the the course of the global economic recession from 2008 to 2009, the worst hit were the countries that upheld the neo-liberal economic policies of the kind that Wickremesinghe strove to impose on Sri Lanka. Had Wickremesinghe been the leader of this country during the economic recession , the country would have been bankrupt by now.

What have they achieved for Sri Lanka? If one takes into consideration the economic growth achieved by the UNP during their reign from 1948 , they were able to maintain six percent economic growth but only in 1978 and 1979. Under President Rajapaksa’s regime, we have been able to maintain an economic growth of over six percent from 2005 to 2009 yearly.

Q: President Rajapaksa has promised that the next Cabinet will be a small one. Do you believe that it could be done and if necessary will some ministers agree to be ordinary Members of Parliament?

A: The Cabinet has to be small. I think it will be limited to 35 to 40 ministers. The division of subject that each member should be given will be of utmost importance. We had several duplication of Ministries last time because of the poor division of ministries. I think it could be reduced to 40 or less provided that the division of subjects is properly done. The public has a vital role to play in this regard for there will be no issue if they would cast their preferential votes to those who have successfully handled, and can handle their subjects, and those who have the proper background and education to carry out their tasks.