- SLFP will resolve the issue after the election is over
- You don’t have to snag 50 percent for the win. 38 percent, 40 percent or 45 percent can be President
- Will present a Bill to allow the seizure of assets and money earned through illegal means without going to court
Q: How’s the election campaign going?
A: The candidates are currently collecting votes in a conservative system. Today, the United National Party, and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party has only one seat. The group that gathered in the pod has now dispersed. These days, people are enticed to rallies with freebies.
They think that they will gain votes when people show up to rallies. In Sri Lanka, just two hundred thousand people actively engage in politics, attend meetings and organise, but there are 17.1 million voters.
So this time the rallies will not be of any use. The people are not looking at the parties this time. This time the focus is on the candidates. The voters are much smarter now. They are not stupid to stand in rallies in the hot sun.
Today, social media is where most public opinion is created. Mainstream media is responsible for another 30 percent. The rest is taken up by canvassing. I also advertise on social media and mainstream media. I am doing district level organising to get 225 candidates for the next Parliament, 450 for the Provincial Council and 8,800 for the local Government bodies.
Q: Are you saying that party politics is useless this time? But you are up against many of the most powerful candidates in history. What do you think about the victory?
A: All 38 are corrupt. For some candidates, the advisor is also a candidate. A Minister who was expelled from Cabinet is also a candidate. Such the MP is also a candidate. That alone disqualifies these prime candidates. So the number is irrelevant. The 50 percent does not apply to the victory this time. Those who get 38, 40 or 45 percent can be President.
Sajith Premadasa got 2.7 million last time. The JVP has four hundred and forty thousand votes. Assuming that they will get even more, if we calculate to six million, if all 14 million votes are cast, the remaining eight million is the real decisive factor this year.
Out of this, five million votes are the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Bloc Votes. During Chandrika’s time, it was around four million. During Mahinda’s time, it increased to five million. From there, they went up based on their popularity. Since 1994 until today, all Presidents have been based on the SLFP.
Because Mahinda won the war in 2009, the bloc votes increased from five to six million. With Gotabaya’s promises, it increased to 6.9 million. But the base is five million. Those are SLFP votes. After Maithripala expelled Mahinda from the party, he formed the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.
He took this five million in the 2018 Local Government election. That is what increased it to 6.9 million in the presidential election.
I am addressing those five million. Only I have the necessary methodology for the journey of protecting local resources. I have proven it in the past. I opposed the sale of local resources when Cabinet ministers were fired. I recovered all the national resources that were sold.
Q: What is your special qualification for the Presidency?
A: One is experience. Representatives are not sent to Parliament to build roads. They should do national politics. Policies and laws of the country should be formulated. Ranil Wickremesinghe made laws. Is there a single candidate who has made laws?
Lalith Athulathmudali had a record of making the most laws in our country. I have prepared more than twice that. I have fulfilled the role of the Legislature. We have not given an opportunity to an educated person to rule our country. Even after 25 years in Parliament, was even one bill prepared like the one I made? How many people can read and understand a Bill? Not at least 25 people.
Sri Lankans are also in the wrong. They would vote for the person who attended funerals, or vote for those would give them food and alcohol. People should also take responsibility for this.
Q: Initially, even the former president assured that you will run as the SLFP presidential candidate. Why did a party with a core voter base of over a million refuse to run?
A: In the 1952 election, even Bandaranaike did not appear from the party. He competed under the cartwheel symbol, Chandrika contested under the chair symbol and Mahinda came from the betel leaf that was designed by me and Mangala. Gotabaya contested under the lotus bud. Therefore, the symbol of the party is not relevant. Policy applies. Even in the past, the members of the party cast their votes even though they came from a different symbol.
Q: When there was trouble, you came forward to save the SLFP. Will the merits of those parties be considered?
A: I am still the legitimate President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. But this has been censored by the Court. At that time, there was no one to take charge and solve the problem. I will unravel this mess after the election. I have set up a system to remove at least 200 MPs with corruption allegations and bring a brand new group into Parliament.
The anti-corruption laws and election spending limit laws were not brought to play. It will shut the door for clowns and thieves and allow professionals and intellectuals to get into Parliament. We will implement it first in this election. But the Election Commission failed. They don’t understand. Therefore, Rs. 1.86 billion was allowed to be spent. How can a person with a monthly income of Rs. 200,000 spend Rs. 1.86 billion?
A Government administrative officer has the same salary. All this is black money, drug money and dirty money. These are investments made by criminals for politicians. It is not out of the question that a country can go bankrupt. People should be happy that the country is like this while so much fraud and corruption is going on.
Q: The main parties have now presented their manifestos. What are your promises to the people?
A: My policy statement will be officially unveiled on September 5. I will continue to raise awareness of these issues until fraud and corruption are stopped. Ninety percent of the legal frameworks required to build our country have been completed.
There is one more Bill to pass. It is an Act to seize illegally earned money or assets without going to court. Now it can be done by going to Court and filing a case. After it is brought, the necessary legal elements to build this country are complete.
This is a serious law that should have been studied. No one has this experience in our country. It took two years to make the draft. I had a long talk with the President during nominations that day regarding the adoption of this Bill. The President also agreed to adopt this very quickly.
Q: Will this be accomplished through the next Government?
A: The next Government should do this. But there is a plan to form a Government to fix it.
Q: Eliminating corruption, punishing the guilty, doing justice to the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks as well as giving people the opportunity to live within their means are some of the things that the people expect in this year’s presidential election. Your role in this?
A: I was the first victim of the Easter Sunday attacks. I was called a terrorist because I worked to ensure national security that something like this would happen. The report states that the only thing the Government did was to kill the messenger. In relation to several unresolved issues here, an expert committee has been appointed locally and abroad and if it is discovered that someone new is involved in this, a case will be filed against them.
Q: If you come to power, how will you shoulder the fight to recover the economy?
A: Some say that the Executive Presidency will be abolished. Parliament should decide this. Are people stupid enough to believe this? According to my policy statement, after I become President, I will form a Government and establish the rule of law. The rule of law is essential. We cannot talk about the economy and education without the rule of law. There is no candidate here who can implement the rule of law to the letter. If there is such a person, I will not run for President.
Pic Dushmantha Mayadunna
