UNP vote base fast eroding - Mahinda Samarasinghe

by Manjula FERNANDO

This is the first general election you are contesting under the UPFA ticket. At the 2004 parliamentary election you had secured the top slot in the Kalutara district's preferential list contesting under UNP.

What do you think will happen this time?

Voters are more intelligent today. They don't strickly go by the parties nor do they have undue regard for seniority.

Their only concern will be to know if the candidate has delivered his goods. People are well aware of the role I played during the humanitarian operation. Voters have their regard for what I have done for the Kalutara district in the contest of development.

There is a lot of momentum in my polls campaign. An additional advantage for me is that I always engage in gentlemen by politics. I steer clear of thuggery and violence.

As a result of this, my support base is getting stronger. I have not perceived any problems in my election campaign so far.

What have you planned to serve your people during the next six years, if elected?

My support is needed to strengthen the hands of the President to face the internal and international challenges. I will continue to extend my support to him.

As far as the Kalutara district is concerned there is a big disparity in terms of development compared to Colombo and Gampaha districts.

We are not just targeting infrastructure development, alone but we need to invest so that more jobs could be created especially for the youth. There is a huge potential for tourism development in the district.

We need to put on fast track the Kaluganga project to address the issues of people affected by the floods. The Southern expressway is passing through Kalutara. We are planning to establish new towns and villages to benefit from the commercial activities created by the new expressway. This will be another inducement for investment.

Is the government heading for a comfortable two thirds majority as claimed by certain UPFA candidates?

I don't want to forecast the election results as the President himself is not talking about the two thirds. What we want is a strong Government to implement the 'Mahinda Chinthanaya', as endorsed by people. We can obviously get the two thirds majority in Parliament. It's up to the people to give us two thirds majority.

There is a huge outcry to change the present electoral system which leaves room for violence and misuse of power. What is your view?

Once again I would like to go back to the 'Mahinda Chinthana' program. Electoral reforms are talked about but not spelt out in details. We will proceed on the basis of Mahinda Chinthanaya. It is up to the Parliament to decide on a suitable electoral system. This has to be done in consultation with the political parties.

How many seats could be won by the Government in the Kalutara district ?

We are expecting a minimum of seven seats for the UPFA.

In the 2004 General Election the UPFA, UNP and JVP won six, three and one seat respectively. We could even exceed our target depending on how we conduct ourselves in the coming weeks.

We must convince the people that we understand their issues and are ready to fulfil their aspirations. Open intra-party rivalries for 'manape' will not be to our advantage. Ultimately all will vote for the betel leaf.

The general opinion in the country is that the UNP vote base is a fixed one. Are you confident that your UNP supporters will change sides to vote for you?

The UNP vote base is eroding quite significantly. Lots of people joined the UPFA back in 2006. When I joined the UPFA, quite a number of UNP supporters backed me. We will witness a big drop in their vote base on April 8.

There are no strong candidates representing the UNP in the Kalutara district. A significant number of their supporters may opt not to excercise their franchise since they have lost faith in the party and its leadership. The UPFA is miles and miles ahead of the UNP today!

The Opposition accuses the Government that it has failed in its obligations to the people during its first term of office - Cost of living is sky-rocketing and the people are being burdened with numerous problems?

We don't say that everything is alright. We have been overburdened with problems emerging from a 30-year-old, protracted conflict.

For the Mahinda Chinthanaya to overcome these challenges, we need a strong and stable Government. People will decide at the polls whether they trust the UPFA or the UNP to solve their problems.We will have six more years!

We will have to work very hard to finish what we have started.