UPFA Confident of getting comfortable majority:

Opposition concedes defeat - Minister Susil Premajayantha

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

UPFA General Secretary and Education Minister Susil Premajayantha says the Opposition pledge not to give two thirds to the Government clearly shows they have already admitted they are not in a position to win the upcoming General Election.

The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said any party or alliance contesting from the Opposition will get less than 40 percent votes as the Common Opposition has been split at present.

The Minister is also confident that this time the UPFA can win some of the districts they lost at the last Presidential Election.

People are well aware that they have a President who won the last Presidential Election with a 1.8 million overwhelming majority. Therefore, we are going to win the upcoming General Election with a very comfortable majority.

The Opposition won these areas by putting all their efforts together with UNP, TNA and Rahuff Hakeem. This time the UNP, TNA and Hakeem have split. Therefore, the UPFA has a very good opportunity to get the highest number of votes from all districts in these two provinces.

Q: Has the UPFA started campaigning for the April 08 General Election?

A: Yes. Our candidates for each and every electoral district have already started their individual campaigns as well as the campaign for the betel leaf.

The Operational Committee has decided to launch major rallies after this weekend under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake.

Q: Do you think the UPFA will be able to get a two-third majority or very close to it?

A: That is our target. In the latter part of the Provincial Council elections, we were targeting two-thirds. We managed to get more than two-thirds in three provinces.

Q: Why should the people give the Government two-thirds?

A: We have mentioned this in “Mahinda Chintana Idiri Dekama” as well. There will be a constitutional amendment to change the election system at all levels.

“Jana Sabha” system will be introduced at grass roots level.

There is also a possibility of introducing a Second Chamber to overcome many issues and legal matters pertaining to the Provincial Councils. Therefore, we need two third majority to amend the constitution.

Q: What are the changes we can expect if the Government gets two-third majority?

A: As I mentioned earlier, if the Government gets two-thirds, it will amend the constitution to change the electoral system and introduce “Jana Sabha” system and a Second Chamber.

The Government also intends to introduce a mixed system to replace the present preferential system.

At present an interim report has been submitted to Parliament by a Sub Committee on the proposed reforms.

Q: Have you selected the best possible candidates for the April 8 General Election for all the districts?

A: Yes, of course. I think this time we have a very strong list of candidates for all electoral districts including the Northern and the Eastern provinces. They are very experienced politicians. Some of them are professionals and others represent different political parties under UPFA umbrella. So we manage to formulate a very strong nomination list for each and every electoral district.

Q: What is your plan to attract more opposition vote to Government and also to rectify any shortcomings in areas where the UPFA did not fare well at the last Presidential Election?

A: At the Presidential Election, the Government’s vote base was reduced in Nuwara Eliya, Colombo Municipal area and the Northern and the Eastern provinces.

This time we have fielded candidates who can attract more voters in those areas. Therefore, we are confident this time we can win some of the districts that we lost at the last Presidential Election.

Q: Have you given more nominations to the youth and women?

A: Yes, of course. In some districts there are no women representatives. But we have given nominations to women representatives in so many districts.

For example, we have three women candidates for Gampaha district. In addition, women candidates have been fielded for Wanni, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Ampara, Ratnapura, Kurunegala, Galle and Kegalle districts as well.

Some of these women candidates are politicians themselves and others represent different fields.

Q: Today the Opposition has split. Do you think this will be an additional advantage to the UPFA?

A: Definitely! At the last Presidential Election, the Common Opposition Candidate obtained nearly 40.15 percent votes. With this split, both the UNP and the National Democratic Front (NDF) who contest from the Trophy symbol will get less than 40 percent votes. Because this 40.15 percentage will be split among the UNP and the NDF.

Even Sampanthan’s TNA contests separately. Therefore, we can definitely say none of the parties contesting from the Opposition will be able to exceed the 40 percent limit.

Q: In any case, can the Opposition carry out their pledge not to give two third majority to the Government?

A: It clearly shows the Opposition has already admitted that they can’t win the upcoming General Election.

Their fight is not to allow the UPFA to get two-thirds. I think they can’t just fool the people through such populist slogans.

People are well aware that they have a President who won the last Presidential Election with a 1.8 million overwhelming majority. Therefore, we are going to win the upcoming General Election with a very comfortable majority.

Q: Do you expect a better response to the UPFA from the North and the East at the General Election? The Opposition won these areas at the last Presidential Election.

A: The Opposition won these areas by putting all their efforts together with UNP, TNA and Rahuff Hakeem. This time the UNP, TNA and Hakeem have split. Therefore, the UPFA has a very good opportunity to get the highest number of votes from all districts in these two provinces.

Q: Do you think the Government has a better chance to get a larger mandate from the Northern and the Eastern provinces owning to the split in the TNA into three groups?

A: Yes of course! For example, some former TNA MPs are contesting Wanni and Batticaloa districts under the UPFA.

There is a new trend that most of the former TNA MPs are joining the country’s main political stream.

This is a very good trend to be developed further. Since most of the members in the North and the East represent the UPFA at the next election, we can have easy access to the people in those areas by addressing their grievances.

Q: What is your message to voters at the April 08 General Election?

A: My message is: Vote for the UPFA’s betel leaf and elect honest, credible and trustworthy people as your representatives to the Parliament!

Q: Is the UPFA taking any action to prevent Inter-party rivalry and ensure a free and fair election?

A: Of course! We started our campaign at the Anuradhapura Sacred City religious ceremonies.

All the UPFA candidates who gathered at the President’s House at Anuradhapura, expressed their willingness to conduct their campaign without harming the rival parties.

Q: A large number of UNP MPs who crossed over to the Government are this time contesting from the UPFA ticket. Is this a threat to the vote base of senior UPFA MPs?

A: I don’t think so. People very well know who these candidates are, whether they crossed over from the UNP or they are from our own party. As they crossed over from the UNP, they are now our party members. Now we can’t say they are from some other party. They are now our people. We consider them as candidates of the UPFA. As the General Secretary of the UPFA, I treat all of them alike.

Q: What are the plans formulated by the new UPFA Government to develop the education sector?

A: We have to introduce a new Education Act. We have already completed the preliminaries in this regard. The new UPFA Government will present the draft bill to the Parliament.

The present Education Act is very old and certain amendments are needed. The present act does not permit us to address the new challenges in the education sphere. Because we don’t have the necessary legal framework for that. Therefore, we are going to introduce a new Act with a very strong legal framework. Once this Act is passed by the Parliament, solutions can be found to a series of issues which we are facing today.

Q: Do you think the Government has been able to address the key issues in the education sphere during the past five years?

A: Definitely. During the past five years, the Government has recruited 35,000 teachers to overcome the shortage of teachers especially in the North Central, Uva and the North and the East. In order to develop our human resources, we have started training programs and new training programs for teachers.

The Government has introduced ICT in a more effective way. We have also introduced programs to improve the English education in the school system.

We have already started programs for our Teacher Educators. Two batches sent to India under this program have returned to the country after successfully completing their training courses.

At present they are engaged in training programs. The Government has also provided a large number of other infrastructure facilities to schools countrywide such as buildings, libraries and laboratories.

The distribution of text books and school uniform materials is conducted on time now. The promotions to all grades in the education sector and other long standing issues have also been solved.

The promotions for School Principals and Teacher Educators have since been completed. Therefore, the Government has streamlined everything. What we have to do now is to select the correct persons to correct positions and go ahead.

Q: Finally, can you be satisfied with the initiatives taken under Mahinda Chintana to develop the education sector during the past five years?

A: Of course. As an indicator when I took over this Ministry in 2005, the average G.C.E. O/L results in 2004 December was 42 percent. At the end of 2009, we have been able to increase this up to 56.8 percent. We have also increased the G.C.E. A/L results up to 63 percent at the last G.C.E. A/L examination. The Government has also increased the number of Grade Five Scholarships by 50 percent.

We have also introduced “Isura program” by spending Rs. 35 million for each and every school selected. Under this program, we have selected 135 schools including one from each Divisional Secretariat division. We have done a lot to develop the education sector. Therefore, I think anybody can run this Ministry with all these human and physical resources. If we increase the budgetary allocation for the education sector up to 5 percent within the next couple of years, it will be a key turning point which would facilitate infrastructure facilities to all urban and rural areas without discrimination. Surely then we can guarantee a free education for each and every student.