Minorities now support UPFA - Mustapha

The minority thinking pattern has changed over time, Technology and Research Deputy Minister Faizer Mustapha said.

“With Municipal Council elections around the corner, political parties are issuing statements and casting allegations against each other on platforms. Whatever the UNP says, this election will be a UPFA win,” he said, claiming that the thinking pattern of the ‘so-called suppressed’ minority has changed over time.

“If you look at the voting pattern, previously the minorities have tilted more towards the UNP,” Mustapha said, “However, with the leadership given by President Mahinda Rajapaksa this thinking has changed with the majority siding up with the UPFA.”

He assured that the government’s thinking pattern is the same as the first statement delivered by the President after winning the three decade war: ‘there are no minorities in the country; but two sets of people - people who love the country and the people who do not.’

“The words however were not just limited for the benefit of the media and the public,” Mustapha said. The government has, by action proved the point by allocating large sums for the development of the North and East. “The President believes that the minorities should be part of the inclusive development process conducted by the government,” he said. With his electorate being Akurana which has a Muslim population of 65 percent and being an electorate never won by the UPFA, Mustapha changed tradition by winning it at the last local body elections.

“Because of the dynamic leadership of the President, people in the area for the first time elected a UPFA local body. There is a shift in the thinking of minority in the country because of the vision of the President,” he said.

“People today have moved away from traditional politics. People are more intelligent, educated and political savvy. They don’t listen to people at the election platform,” Mustapha noted. “This time we are confident that we are capable of winning the Colombo Municipal Council election.” Being a Muslim himself, the deputy minister claimed that there is a clear change in the thinking pattern of the minority.

“What I see is a major change. Even the upper middle class who generally looked at the UPFA differently, because they were always of the view that the business community would benefit only through UNP, now say ‘look at what the Defence Secretary has done by changing Colombo and making it a clean city. We should give the UPFA a chance.’”

Commenting on the breaking of shanty dwellers’ homes, he said that this was mere mud slinging.

“There are allegations that shanties will be removed. The President very clearly stated that he will not demolish their houses until they are given better accommodation. No government could allow the people to suffer the way they are suffering. These people do not have basic water and sanitation facilities. The government’s thinking is to give them these facilities,” he said. “The UNP is using this to frighten the people and turn the vote towards them.”

He maintained that irrespective of the UPFA winning this election or not, the government policy will continue to give them 35,000 houses within the next three years.

“If you see Colombo city, and the poverty- I would not have seen such poverty in my village. About 20 to 30 people share a 5x5 house, 100-200 people share a public toilet which we should be ashamed of. This government is ready to give political leadership to the poverty-stricken people within the Colombo Municipality.”

He said that even though UNP propaganda states that the Colombo beautification programme will continue without the need of support from the central government, in reality this cannot be done.

“It cannot be done for the simple reason that the central government has the power to approve or reject. Without the blessings of the central government such work cannot be continued,” he said. “What I feel is that they (the Opposition) play the ethnic cards saying that the minority is being harassed. These accusations are unfounded. People are not foolish anymore. Today you cannot fool the people. They are savvier than what they were,” he said.

Commenting on the Colombo city transformation project undertaken by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Mustapha said that results have been business-friendly with more investors and tourists coming in and liking what they see. “Looking at it in totality the President and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa have paved the way for future prosperity. I believe that looking at this election; the minority has given a very clear signal that they will support the government.”