Strong team to ensure victory - Isuru Jayawardene

By Uditha KUMARASINGHE

Isuru Jayawardene who is a lawyer by profession is a promising candidate contesting the Kurunegala Municipal Council under the UNP banner. Jayawardene says this time the UNP has put forward a very good team of 16 candidates and is confident that the UNP would be able to secure victory at the Kurunegala MC. Jayawardene in an interview with the Sunday Observer said the internal crisis within the UNP will not affect the outcome of the Local Government election as contesting a Local Government Body is at local level and not at national level.

He said the development programs carried out by the MC in Kurunegala have taken place when the MC was under UNP administration of nearly five decades. After 2006, the MC has not been able implement any development proposals. He said the proposal of putting up a shopping mall at Vehera, Kurunegala was not a fresh proposal put forward by the UPFA this was a proposal which came before 2006 when the MC was under the UNP.

Q: With the current internal party crisis, will the UNP be able to secure a victory at the Kurunegala MC?

A: I think the UNP is in a position to secure victory at the Kurunegala MC at the forthcoming Local Government election. The crisis within the UNP is connected with national level politics, it does not have an impact on the local government election.

The UNP has put forward a strong team of 16 candidates for the Kurunegala MC and UNP Kurunegala Organiser MP Asoka Abeysinghe has given very good leadership to our team. Therefore I don't see any crisis and we are in a very good position to win the election.

Q: Does the UNP have any priorities to develop Kurunegala town as against what has been done by the UPFA?

A: The former UPFA mayor was the mayor under the UNP regime as well. He developed the city and set up the bus stand when he was the mayor under the UNP. I also admit so many development projects took place in Kurunegala until 2006 when the MC was under the UNP.

After the UNP mayor crossed over to the UPFA and was re-elected as the mayor in 2006, the MC has not been able to implement any development proposal. The plan to develop Kurunegla central market and put up a shopping mall are not fresh proposals submitted by the former mayor or the UPFA. These proposals came before 2006 when the MC was under the UNP. However, after he was re-elected as the mayor under the UPFA in 2006, he could not implement these proposals. At present there is no proper car park for Kurunegala town.

If the UNP wins the MC, we will reserve a new car park. We have an idea to put up a mini bus stand in Kurunegala. At present a lot of advertisements have been put up in various roundabouts in the city which is an impediment to the beauty of the city. Instead of putting advertisements and banners at roundabouts, we would focus our attention put advertisement boards in selected areas.

At present drinking water has also become a problem in certain areas in Kurunegala city and there is no proper system to provide a 24-hour water supply. We will focus on this issue as well. Under the UNP administration we have planned to develop the drainage system in the city.

Q: With overshadowing mega projects launched by the UPFA run MC, do you think you can have an edge over your rivals?

A: I think we have. Kurunegala town is mostly a UNP stronghold. Because over the past 50 years, Kurunegala MC was under the UNP. During the last Presidential and General Election, the UNP obtained a majority in the Kurunegala city area.

Therefore the UNP has a very good chance to win the MC as it's a predominantly UNP-won council in the past.

Q: If I say you are at the receiving end because the UNP stalwarts are now running the UPFA municipal administration at the moment, What are your comments?

A: The UNP mayor crossed over to the UPFA in 2006, most of the UNPers voted him at the last Local Government election. However, the UNP has put forward a very good team of 16 candidates. Therefore people are very enthusiastic to vote the UNP into power rather than voting for a particular individual. So we have a very strong vote base at the moment.

Q: I understand so far you have not put forward a mayoral candidate to conduct the election campaign. In this scenario how could you be sure of any victory?

A: The UNP has not announced a mayoral candidate. But we have put forward a very good team for Kurunegala MC. So far the UPFA has also not announced its mayoral candidate. But three UPFA candidates are claiming that they are the UPFA mayoral candidates.

There is a conflict within the UPFA team. But the UNP has made a very good team effort to ensure that we win the MC. The UNP through winning Kurunegala MC will show the Government that UNPers at grass roots level are still with the UNP.