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| Sunday, 11 July 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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'Stop playing petty politics' - D. M. Jayaratne
Q. People are fed up with the country's political system. What kind of changes do you propose to usher in a good political culture? A. I really regret the pathetic incident that occurred in Parliament recently. It shows that Parliamentary violence has reached climax and is a black mark in Parliamentary history. No such incidents were reported prior to 1975. There were bitter arguments on policies but only verbally. I recall an incident where Felix Dias Bandaranaike told J. R. Jayawardene we would reveal what they discussed during the lunch. J. R. Jayawardene said "you fool". That was a harsh word at that time. Thereafter, Vasudeva Nanayakkara was involved in a controversial incident. There were constructive criticism on policies. But never in history, was Parliament ridiculed to this extent by its members. Q. How do you see the future of Sri Lanka with the present polarised political situation? A. I am really fed up with politics and the political leaders of this country. They don't think of the future of the country. Though parties in Pakistan don't like Musharaf, they got together on the Kasmir issue. The same with India. Most of the parties get together on national issues. Sri Lanka will not have a future unless leaders of political parties end playing politics with national issues and stop bargaining. Leaders of political parties should find a solution to the ethnic problem and settle the dispute. Sri Lanka cannot afford another war. We will become a country like Ethiopia but other countries in the region will forge ahead of us towards a better future. Q. As one of the most senior members in the House, what is the advice you give to young MPs? A. The young members should have patience and respect for the opinions of others. Parliament is a place where anyone can express their views freely. Others should respect different opinions. Q. The Jathika Hela Urumaya has organised a march from Matara to Kandy as an exercise of pressurising the Government against attack on monks. They blame your MPs. This kind of march could have been prevented if the Government had tactfully handled the situation. What is your comment? A. I cannot tell our MPs anything because certain seniors have been assigned to maintain discipline of the MPs. Others cannot interfere with their work. Q. Who are those seniors? A. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Leader of the House Maithreepala Sirisena. Q. What is your strategy for the Central Provincial Council election? A. I have organised house to house campaign and hold rallies at each village. We will win all the provinces. Q. But the UNP is confident of winning the Central Provincial Council election? A. A majority of the people in the Central Province are Tamils and Muslims. That may be the reason the UNP is boasting about winning the Central Province. But this time Muslims are going to vote for the Alliance candidates. Many are of the view that they must vote for the Alliance candidates. Even UNPers are not to enthusiastic about winning the province because they want to get some work done for the people from our Government. Q. How will the Kandyans react to the Interim Government proposals? A. Generally they don't like it. But some believe that this problem should be settled amicably. Q. But if the Government is going to negotiate with the LTTE on the ISGA proposals as the LTTE is insisting how will the Government convince the people to support them? A. First we must educate the people on the ISGA proposal. People get agitated due to misinformation by various parties. People in villages are now well aware of the political developments in the country unlike those days thanks to the media. If we don't educate them they will oppose it. Q. Is there a programme to educate them? A. So far no such programme has been introduced. Q. The Opposition Parties have united as a Combined Opposition, as the Government does not respect democracy. Don't you think that the Opposition has been united due to the mistake of the Government and behaviour of certain Government MPs? A. Certainly. The Government should introduce a Code of Conduct for MPs on how to behave inside and outside Parliament. The President has educated all MPs on certain areas. But I believe she should further advise MPs on their conduct in the House. Q. Does the Government have any plan to win Opposition parties? A. I discussed with 25 chief incumbents to negotiate with the JHU monks as the leader of the "Jathika Urumaya Organisation", because, the JHU and we don't have much difference on issues. Without affecting the rights of Sinhala Buddhists we can ensure the rights of people in other communities. But all my efforts were sabotaged after the attack on the JHU monks. But I went to the Hospital and met the two members who were injured. Q. What are the weaknesses you have identified in the Telecom? A. The Nippon Telecom is one of the best telecommunication leaders in the world. But they have not performed up to expectations in Sri Lanka. There are still about 350,000 people in the list expecting phones. When I inquired from the management of the Telecom I was told that it is expensive to instal phones in villages compared with the income it generates. But we as a Government cannot agree because it greatly affects the development of the country. Therefore, I have introduced one million telephone programmes to end the deadlock. Many private companies are willing to invest their own money and I will amend laws enabling them to go ahead, because present laws have prevented mobile phone operators from giving land connections. Five mobile companies are ready to give land lines. One company itself came forward with a proposal to give one million connections. Q. But according to the Telecom agreement can you let other operators to give phone connections? A. Yes, we can amend laws according to our needs. They cannot object to it. We have the right to grant permission. Q. Are you happy with the service of the Telecom? A. Not at all. They should improve their efficiency. For example Malwatte Mahanayake Thera's phone has been out of order for months but they have not taken action to rectify it. Even after I told them some officers have gone but it has not been corrected. We thought that they will render a good service after privatisation. Q. The new billing system has created confusion and Telecom is now sending accumulated bills amounting to thousands of rupees. Ordinary families find it difficult to pay such accumulated bills. How will you help them?. A. I have directed them only to send a 23 day bill to people. I agree that people cannot pay accumulated bills. It has not happened due to their fault. In six months time the Telecom can recover dues accordingly. Q. What are the other development programs you have planned? A. A Telecom City programme is one such major programme. This project will operate in eight acres of land in Welikada and create 400 jobs initially. Youth with little knowledge of computer can work in this project. Q. Your dream of being the Prime Minister was shattered. How do you feel? A. What to do. Things are not happening according to our wish. The President told me that I am the most suitable person but she said since Ratnasiri is sick he should be given. I am not unhappy for losing the Prime Minister post. I am the only person living among those who formed the SLFP. I was in remand prison for 400 days and faced 47 litigations. But I am very unhappy about the future of the SLFP. Q. Why? A. The SLFP has now moved away from people due to various reasons. We must end infighting and get people to join our party. |
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News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
Veteran politician
D. M. Jayaratne, the only surviving founder member
of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Minister of Posts, Telecommunications
and Udarata Development, in an interview with staff reporter JAYANTHA SRI
NISSANKA says he is fed up with the polarised political situation in the
country and calls upon leaders of political parties to stop playing petty
politics on national issues. Excerpts of the interview:
