Social service, my first love

New UNP MP for Gampaha district - Ajith Kumara MannapperumA:

By Jaliya Wijeyekoon

Ajith Kumara Mannapperuma was sworn in as the UNP Member of Parliament for the Gampaha district, filling the void created by the untimely demise of Dr. Jayalath Jayewardene who represented the Ja-Ela electorate since 1994. Mannapperuma was the first Mayor of the Gampaha Municipal Council in which position he continued for two successive terms prior to being elected as a Western Provincial Councillor at the Provincial Council elections held in 2009.

Ajith Kumara Mannapperuma

Mannapperuma contested the General Election held in 2010 and polled over 44,000 votes and was placed fifth in the Gampaha district UNP list.

The Sunday Observer had an exclusive interview with Ajith Mannapperuma, the newly-appointed MP, to ascertain his political Mission and his future course of action as a fresher in Parliament. Excerpts of the Interview are as follows:

Q: You are a qualified civil engineer by profession, who turned into a successful businessman. What made you take to politics?

A: Social service was in my mind from my student days at the Katubedda University. I was involved in minor projects such as constructing culverts and small buildings during the time that the campus was closed due to the JVP insurgency. I was one of the first students to be entitled to the Mahapola scholarships initiated by the Late Lalith Athulathmudali and I quite naturally developed a moral responsibility to work for the welfare of the people in my area.

After qualifying myself as a civil engineer, I got fully involved in my business activities in Gampaha. Simultaneously, I played a major role in all social activities in the area. I had been carefully watching the injustice meted out to innocent people by certain State officials and I myself was victimised by the police on certain trivial issues on a number of occasions.

By this time, I had financially established myself and was fully involved in the social activities in the Gampaha town.

This is the time I realised that political power is also necessary to effectively carry out social activities.

When the Local Government (LG) election was announced in 2002, representatives of many social service and voluntary organisations in the area requested me to contest the elections. By that time, I had established a close relationship with the UNP leaders in the district as well as the party hierarchy. When I expressed my willingness to contest, the party leaders readily granted me nomination.

I conducted my LG election campaign smoothly and topped the list and was appointed the first Mayor of the Gampaha Municipal Council. This is how I entered politics.

Q: What made you choose the United National Party to do politics?

A: Well, as I told you earlier, I had a moral responsibility as a Mahapola Scholarship winner to work for the people.

I have read and studied the political history of the country, especially the post-Independence period and I admired the performance of UNP leaders starting with D.S. Senanayake. Moreover, though my parents were not interested in politics, my grandparents were ardent supporters of the United National Party. Their influence may have also contributed to some extent for me to embrace the UNP.

Q: Apparently, you do not enjoy any political inheritance or background in the district. Do you think that it would be easy for you to consolidate your position in the district at a future election, sans any roots?

A: With the few years of experience that I have in practical politics, I am quite confident that the people in the Gampaha district will definitely consider my presence in Parliament in any future election.

Q: You had been Mayor for two consecutive terms and a Western Provincial Councillor for the last few years. What are your major achievements as the Mayor and a Provincial Councillor?

A: Well, I am quite proud to state my achievements as the first Mayor of Gampaha. I would say that I managed to give a facelift to the Gampaha city. I designed and built the Gampaha Central Bus Stand, shopping complex, Fire Brigade buildings, equipment and vehicles, the third biggest public library in the island, a Keells Super Market building and a garbage disposal system for the Municipal Council area. When I left the Municipal Council and joined the Provincial Council, I was involved in a Rs. 50 million project for the Gampaha city dwellers.

As a Western Provincial Councillor, I have to serve the entire district and also perform as member of the Opposition.

I always work very cordially with the ruling party and try to obtain whatever assistance from them for the benefit of the people in my district. I always co-operated with the Chief Minister and made my contribution with my professional expertise for the benefit of the people in the province.

Q: As the latest Member of Parliament for the Gampaha district, what are your plans for the betterment of the people of the district?

A: It is not possible for me to make drastic changes immediately in the entire social fabric.

Our party is in the process of reformulating rules and regulations to streamline the public service under a future UNP government. I shall give my fullest cooperation to such activities while attending to the grievances of the public.

I hope to raise my voice in the House with regard to the burning questions of the people of my district.

My party provides guidelines for all of us to discharge our duties as Opposition MPs on all crucial issues and I shall discharge my duties according to these guidelines. Discipline is extremely important when you are engaged in politics.

Q: Your party was in a chaotic situation sometime ago with a leadership crisis and it was virtually divided into two groups as Ranil’s group and Sajith’s group. To which group do you belong?

A: Our party was never in a chaotic situation with regard to the leadership issue which was sorted out amicably with the popular vote. Since the party is marching forward rapidly, disgruntled elements are engaged in a sinister campaign to tarnish the image of our party by making mountains out of molehills.

There are no groups or divisions in our party and I only belong to the United National Party of which the incumbent leader is Ranil Wickremesinghe who possesses an ocean of knowledge, not only in politics, but in all other spheres and domains.

Q: Early this year, your party leader launched a membership recruitment drive. Has your party completed it and, if so, what was your contribution?

A: Yes, we launched a membership recruitment drive in the beginning of this year and our target is to enrol 2.5 million members by the end of this year. In the electorate also, I recruited over 5,000 members to the party. It is a continuous process and I hope to enrol as many as possible before the next general election.

Q: As the Chief Organiser of the party in the Gampaha electorate have you lived upto the expectations of the party hierarchy?

A: From the day I was appointed Chief Organiser of the party for the Gampaha electorate, I did my share of work for the party to my fullest potential. I have formed a number of branches; Yowun Peramunas and Lak Wanitha units covering almost all Grama Seva divisions in my electorate.

I often meet the office bearers of these units and give them guideline as per the instructions given to us by party headquarters. Whenever and wherever there are party activities such as rallies, protest campaigns and meetings, I represent the electorate with my office bearers and with many party supporters.

Q: The Gampaha electorate is now represented by the UPFA. Are you confident of a future victory?

A: I do not want to disclose all my political strategies to the media immediately. However I would say that I can easily win the electorate for the party at a future election.

My doors are open and anybody could see me anytime of the day without any hindrance.

It is quite true, when you are in power, people rally round you to get their requirements fulfilled, sometimes irrespective of party affiliations. We know some of our party supporters also go behind them to see if they could be benefited one way or the other. It doesn’t mean that they have left the UNP. I know that job aspirants are the main segment of society who are with the ruling party at present.

Q: The next general election is scheduled for 2016. How do your party leaders say that they will form a government in 2014?

A: Most important and vital areas which decide the future of the nation such as education and health care are eternally facing a chaotic situation and undergoing numerous conflicts for the last few years.

Not only the poor people of the country, but even the upper middle class and especially monthly wage earners find it very difficult to balance their budgets due to the sky-rocketing cost of living.

Prices of almost all consumer items have gone up.

The electricity bill is at unbearable level and the law and order situation has reduced to deplorable levels. Provincial politicians are playing havoc in their areas as they know very well that no disciplinary action would be taken against them. With this situation, our party has launched an aggressive campaign, educating the people at every level on the necessity of a regime change to save the county from further disaster.

Q: Rather than being a conventional Opposition member, why don’t you positively look at the mega development projects carried out by the government?

A: The government had not identified the priorities for development projects. There is no proper planning, environmental impact assessment reports had not been obtained prior to executing some of the projects which had subsequently forced the government to spend additional amounts of money to rectify certain shortcomings.

Q: Do you believe that under a future UNP government, you can solve all these problems and run the country smoothly?

A: The UNP had done it in the past and we are quite confident that we can do it under the able leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe in the future too. Our party has presented proposals for a new constitution also, mainly with sublime thoughts of providing a better, cleaner and friendlier administration in the future.