Easy win predicted for UPFA in Kandy

By Ranil Wijayapala

Thilak Gunathilaka Rajapaksa, a man who protested against the Provincial Council system which came with the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord in 1987, after a passage of time has become Member of the Central Provincial Council. A person who is having vast experience in the local politics as Chairman of Poojapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha three times since 1991, he feel that the Provincial Councils cannot reach the grassroots of the people in the area. He believes in changes within the system for the effective delivery of services to the people. Following are excerpts of the interview the Sunday Observer had with him during his campaign to contest the Central Provincial Council election from Kandy District representing the people in Harispattuwa.

Question: Can you recall the way you entered politics and the Provincial Council system?

Answer: I can remember the we were protesting against the signing of the Indo-Lanka agreement on July 15, 1987 by then President J.R. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. As young people who opposed that we organised a protest march along with Harispattuwa people to Kandy. The protest march was dispersed in Katugastota, many of us were arrested and put in jail. I was jailed for more that three months in Bogambara prison without any case filed in the courts. It was during that time I met the present Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne and late Yasaratne Tennekoon and the Bogambara prison became the university of politics for me and then onwards I continued my political activities along with those leaders.

Q: What are the major achievements and milestones in your political life?

A: In 1991 I contested for the Poojapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha election and became a Member and later became the Chairman of the Poojapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha. In 2002 I became the opposition leader of the Poojapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha and again 2006 I became the Chairman of the same Pradeshiya Sabha. In 2009 I contested the Provincial Council election and became a Member of the Central Provincial Council.

I am contesting the Provincial Council election for the second time. During my 22 years political career I obtained the highest preferential votes in the Central Province at the Local Government elections and the third highest preferential votes from the entire country.

Q: As a person widely engaged in local politics what could you done to your area?

A: During my Chairmanship of the Poojapitiya Pradeshiya Sabha I was able to provide the facilities that were confined to the people in the towns to rural areas also. I could find the way how we can provide services to the public through the Pradeshiya Sabha system. Through that I was able to create a renaissance within the Pradeshiya Sabha system. I initiated the program to get the facilities that were confined to the city to the rural areas.

We were able to obtain many resources for the Pradeshiya Sabha and make use of them for the development activities. We were able to build a new Pradeshiya Sabha building making it the most attractive building in the area and we implemented 20 water supply projects, libraries, electricity.

When we were elected only 33 percent of the population in the Harispattuwa electorate were having electricity. But today 98 percent of population in the Harispattuwa electorate are having electricity.

Q: Were you able to do the same service to the people in your area after entering the Provincial Council?

A: After we were elected to the Provincial Councils we could not engage in the same development we did when we were in the Pradeshiya Sabha.

There are reasons for that also. One reason is that the area under the Provincial Council is very wide. Therefore we are not in a position to have a development that can be felt by the people acting only as a Member of the Council.

Q: So what kind of changes do you expect to provide that service to the people?

A: We are confident that President Mahinda Rajapaksa will do justice for us. He has stated that when providing positions he will consider the seniority and also the people who have come from the villages for those positions. If we take the system these positions have been distributed among few families. The President is also thinking to put a stop to that process.

Therefore we believe that as a person representing and electorate with highest number of votes in the Kandy District we will get a position this time. We believe that we have the capability to do massive development in the area once we get elected. I have earned many people during my political career. Though we are in a low position in development we are rich in human resource. Therefore I am confident that I will be able to come among the first five persons out of the 30 candidates in the district.

Q: Do you have any challenge from the Opposition this time?

A: Last time we had a challenge from the Opposition as S.B. Dissanayake was the Chief Ministerial candidate of the UNP. Due to his leadership there was enthusiasm from among the opposition. But this time we don't feel the existence of any opposition today. When we are campaigning no one is talking about the UNP candidates and we are also not aware who is the Chief Ministerial candidate of the UNP. At least we are not aware who are the candidates of the UNP even. There is a lethargic attitude among the opposition members.

We are very sad about the plight of the UNP which had glorious past as a major political party of this country. Today, with the arrival of Dayasiri Jayasekara to the UPFA , that enthusiasm in the North Western province is felt by the people in Harispattuwa also. Within the past one and half month after the dissolution of the Provincial Council nearly 2,000 UNPers joined with me. They are joining with us as they are confident about the policies of the Government. They are doing so as they are aware that the UNP will not be able to form a government for another 20 years.

Q: Do you think that the Provincial Council system as tool to bring the national level development to the grassroots level?

A: Genuinely talking I am a person who was jailed for protesting against the Provincial Council system. That is the situation that prevailed at that time.

Even after I became a Member of the Provincial Council I don't feel that it has helped us to develop our areas at the grass roots level as we did as Pradeshiya Sabha Members and as a Chairman of Pradeshiya Sabha. We feel that the powers given to the Provincial Councils are not adequate. Therefore I request more powers to serve the people in our areas.

Q: So what kind of changes do you expect to happen within the Provincial Council system to have effective results?

A: If we take the Central Province, it is producing the vegetable requirement of almost the entire country. But we are not taking the maximum advantage out of it. People in other provincial council areas are getting benefits from it. We are supplying electricity for the entire country through the hydro electricity projects but we are not benefited from that also.

At the same time four major rivers are also starting from here. But that benefit is also not coming to us. If we have a proper management I think we will be able to develop the entire province with the available resources there in the province. We can do this. That is not an impossible but for that we need a person who is having real affection to this province. Otherwise we can't do this.

Q: What kind of a victory is the UPFA expecting at the forthcoming election?

A: When we take the last Provincial Council out of the 58 Members 38 Members were from the UPFA.

The balance 20 were from the Opposition including the UNP. But at the time of dissolving the Council the number with the UPFA increased to 42. From the Kandy district out of the 30 seats in the district 19 were obtained by the UPFA and 11 were shared by the UNP and the opposition.

The biggest change is that in the 2004 election there were seven JVP Members in the Council but in 2009 no JVP member could get elected to the council . This time there are only 29 seats for the Kandy district and I think out of that a minimum of 21 seats will be secured by the UPFA.