Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Milinda Rajapaksha

Even though the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) faced a major defeat at the last Presidential Elections, many of its members have entered the race to contest for the upcoming Parliamentary Elections. Milinda Rajapaksha is among some of the main SLPP candidates contesting from Colombo. As a former member of the Colombo Municipal Council and a founding member of the SLPP and its Youth Wing, Rajapaksha is determined to make a change in the political system if elected. 

In a candid interview with the Daily Mirror, he spoke about what happened to the SLPP during the last Presidential Elections, what he would do differently to clear the black mark on the Party and his plans for Colombo. 

• My foundation is liberty because liberty is the foundation of self-worth
• Colombo’s becoming a place where I cannot perform based on what I know, but whom I know. We have to stop that
• I have never taken even a 50 cent worth advantage selling the Rajapaksa name
• The man we thought could take over the country was Sajith, but he lost. AKD on the other hand only got 42%, so nobody actually won this game
• Let’s have a diverse, democratic and a beautiful parliament where all opinions are represented
• We need to bring about a child and youth friendly governance for Colombo

Excerpts: 

Q  Let’s take a look at the last Presidential Elections. What happened to the SLPP?

Nothing particularly happened to the SLPP. But what happened to this country is more about what happened to the political elite of this country. This defeat is a defeat of the political establishment of this country. The Rajapaksas, Wickremesinghes, Premadasas, Bandaranaikes, Senanayakes and even the Wijeweeras lost at the election. The man who rebuilt the economy of this country is Ranil Wickremesinghe, but he utterly lost. The man we thought could take over the country was Sajith Premadasa, but he also lost. Anura Kumara Dissanayake on the other hand only got 42%, so nobody actually won this game. We need to look at the individual who won at politics and in this game I think Namal Rajapaksa gained some sort of victory in politics. If you take today’s political environment, not a single party we knew are contesting. Where is SLFP, UNP and the JVP? Where are the parties we grew up with? Today all parties have new names and new faces. For some reason we have the social democratic camp which is the SLPP, the logo, the Party and the Party head office, we are funding ourselves and struggling as a Party in an environment where the biggest business tycoons have taken over political parties. Big entrepreneurs have fielded candidates, so it’s a very volatile environment. Therefore, rather than reviewing what happened to the SLPP it’s time that the political establishment of this country or the liberal democratic camp of this country look at what happened to our politics; what happened to politics the way we saw it and in this fragile environment, what type of people have vested interests are entering this political arena. I think the problem today isn’t just an economic problem. It is a problem related to leadership. Today no party has a proper leader other than AKD who leads National People’s Power (NPP). No other political group has a visible leader who can give national level political leadership. I think that is the crisis. 

I have been living with diabetes since I was 22. Half of the Sri Lankan population will be diabetic and I’m fighting for NCDs. I’m going to champion it as a person who’s living with it. From the food being sold on the road side to the affordability to healthcare and obtaining proper medical advice, I’m going to address the entire spectrum because a lot of young people at risk of being diagnosed with NCDs

Q  Do you think Namal Rajapaksa would be a solid leader for SLPP?

I think Namal proved a few things given the opportunity. He proved that during a worse crisis he could take over the challenge and work under immense pressure. He showed that he had a political idea. He wasn’t making mistakes and he showed that he’s not a ‘nepo-baby’ anymore and that he has his own political aura. The result that Namal got wasn’t unexpected and anyone who understands politics knew he was going to lose. But still he decided to contest. So for his fortune, most of the known, corrupted faces also left the Party. Some are not even contesting and some are retiring forever. So Namal got an opportunity to give electorates or candidacy to hundreds of young people including myself. In every list there are at least 50% young people contesting. 

Q  But we saw how Namal scored during the Presidential Elections from Colombo for example. He was in fourth place. Do you think there would be a big difference in voter behaviour in less than two months; now that we are already in the run-up to the Parliamentary Elections? 

I think two unfortunate things happened to us. One is that there was an SLPP voter base which genuinely thought we should help Ranil Wickremesinghe. This is for a few reasons; he helped recovere the economy and he saved the lives of many SLPP members because we were experiencing a hard time. He respected the SLPP and he never spoke ill of the SLPP after we supported him. So there were thousands of voters who thought that they should support him. But that factor doesn’t work anymore. Ranil Wickremesinghe has lost. But the voters never supported our corrupted team of politicians. Then there was another set of voters who didn’t go to the polling booth because by the last week of the election we were irrelevant in the game. It was very obvious that the fight was between Sajith and AKD. Since our voters didn’t want to vote for Sajith or AKD they didn’t go to the polling booth. They decided to go back to politics on a day where the SLPP camp is in the forefront. These two groups of people will come back and support SLPP at the next elections. 

Q  Even though people loved Mahinda Rajapaksa, after 2009, they eventually started to hate him and the Rajapaksa family. You are known to be a staunch Rajapaksa loyalist. Won’t this label affect your campaign?

Very much. But this is how I look at it. I have never taken even a 50 cent worth advantage selling the Rajapaksa name when it (the name Rajapaksa) was in the peak. When it is at a disadvantage it won’t affect me much. I have always taken the middle path. But there’s a bigger lesson to learn in this instance. We know how Ranil Wickremesinghe was treated in this country. He was labeled as the man who was selling the country to LTTE, the man who robbed the Central Bank. But today people are celebrating him. At one point R. Premadasa was regarded as a person who killed 60,000 youth and a man who gave weapons to LTTE, but during present times Sajith Premadasa was about to become the President of this country. It’s his fault that he couldn’t do it. From 1970-1977 people hated Sirimavo for her economic policies. So one day people would celebrate and on the next day they would hate politicians and it all depends on the political narrative. One day people will say that today we are all living a peaceful life because of Mahinda Rajapaksa. As young politicians we shouldn’t be attached to this flicker or flame; you mentioned earlier that I was very loyal to the Rajapaksas. But I would like to rephrase it as a person who is very loyal to that ideology. So the name and what is happening to people will not affect me because my cause is towards the ideology. 

Today what my generation is expecting from politics is different to what my parents expected from politics. My parents would have expected a proper road network, electricity, water supply all of which Mahinda Rajapaksa completed. Today my generation is expecting good governance, liberty, equality and rights. I’m moving away from the politics we knew to this governance-oriented, policy and ethics oriented politics and today my main concern is to run a decent campaign

Q  Colombo is known to be a UNP, SJB stronghold. What are the challenges and opportunities you see when contesting from Colombo?

For me, Colombo has few layers; the lower middle class who keeps the city clean and operational for you and me to come in the morning. They are a very essential part of this city and they live in the heart of the city. While at the Colombo Municipal Council, I was exposed to this completely different world. Then you have a Colombo with a large migrant population that comes from the outskirts such as Avissawella, Homagama and Kaduwela. They have a different relationship with Colombo and they are the middle class. They are the economy of Colombo. Even though I was born in Kurunegala, I was a part of that Colombo. Then we have the Colombo elite who owns big lands etc., and they are heavily involved in politics. I’m not worried about them, but I’m actually worried about Colombo people who are trying to make fake addresses, trying to buy a fake house to send their kids to a so-called popular school. This is the real issue in Colombo city. So the political opportunity and threat lies in understanding this variety of people in Colombo. Therefore Colombo needs policymakers. The relationship between policymakers and people is all about attending funerals, weddings, distributing rice packets and I’m very much against that. I don’t have any capability or capacity to do that. What I am promising to these different layers is that I will represent you in Parliament for the policies, laws and regulations related to you and I will bring them back to you for your comments, suggestions and input. In my campaign I’m running on three pillars; my foundation is liberty because liberty is the foundation of our self-worth, and if we have our self-worth the people, city and country will be developed. The other point is equality. This is not about everyone getting an equal share, but equality on the lines of overcoming natural disadvantages, whether the city of Colombo allocates the right resources. The last one is justice. Colombo is becoming a place where I cannot perform based on what I know, but whom I know. We have to stop that.

Q  Ever since the ‘aragalaya’ people (those who took part in the protest) started to reject family politics, none of the Rajapaksas are contesting from Hambantota. Do you think that this (Family politics) would be revived at any point?

Just because your father is a lawyer there is no disadvantage to his son in becoming a lawyer. The same theory applies when it comes to politics. But because your father is a politician you don’t have a right to force that power on others. You don’t have a right to get elected to Parliament and be a disadvantage to others. Namal, himself, got elected to Parliament from Hambantota. Shehan, Pramitha and Kanchana too have surpassed their fathers and have become bigger and better politicians than their fathers. But even in the NPP, Chathuranga Abeysinghe and his father are contesting, Bimal Ratnayake and his wife too are contesting. I’m not criticising that. 

Power has corrupted a lot of people and systems. We have to correct it and address it and have our measures to do that. The rest is the propaganda and the stories made about the money allegedly hidden in Uganda. Everyone knew these are just stories. So we need to tackle both these issues. If you ask me what I would do differently, I have no choice, but to be different today

Q   As you said there is a corrupt team of politicians in the SLPP; many of whom are not contesting today. We saw public outrage and how people went to the extent of burning down houses, pulling down statues etc. What would you do differently to clear this black mark on the party? 

Power has corrupted a lot of people and systems. We have to correct it and address it and have our measures to do that. The rest is the propaganda and the stories made about the money allegedly hidden in Uganda. Everyone knew these are just stories. So we need to tackle both these issues. If you ask me what I would do differently, I have no choice, but to be different today. Today what my generation is expecting from politics is different to what my parents expected from politics. My parents would have expected a proper road network, electricity, water supply all of which Mahinda Rajapaksa completed. Today my generation is expecting good governance, liberty, equality and rights. I’m moving away from the politics we knew to this governance-oriented, policy and ethics oriented politics and today my main concern is to run a decent campaign.

Q  Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently said that the SLPP could easily win 113 seats at the upcoming Parliamentary Elections. Is this an achievable target?

One day. This election is a tough call. We have seen how absolute power has failed all leaders. It could be Mahinda, Ranil or Gotabaya Rajapaksa. So at the next election, my request to voters is to give reasonable power and a reasonable share to everyone. Let’s ensure that AKD, Sajith Premadasa, SLPP, Nuwan Bopege, Dilith Jayaweera and everyone else have their own share of power. Let’s have a diverse, democratic and a beautiful parliament where all opinions are represented. 

Q  So what are your plans for Colombo?

I’m looking at four areas. One is education. I’m a complete result of free education and when I look at my generation the biggest suffering they have is their children’s education. Sending them to a good school, cost of tuition, transport, security, lack of quality teachers, infrastructure etc. Unless we address these issues immediately we are going to lose one entire quality generation. I also have a different approach to address non-communicable diseases. I have been living with diabetes since I was 22. Half of the Sri Lankan population will be diabetic and I’m fighting for NCDs. I’m going to champion it as a person who’s living with it. From the food being sold on the road side to the affordability to healthcare and obtaining proper medical advice, I’m going to address the entire spectrum because a lot of young people at risk of being diagnosed with NCDs. The other important aspect is mental health. The other area of focus is infrastructure development. Colombo is such a mess and there’s no plan anywhere. We also need to bring about a child and youth friendly governance for Colombo. You and I have a big problem dealing with the Gen Z. So my policy making and representation in Parliament should be relevant to them as well. They need to feel they are represented. 

Q  What’s your message to voters? 

Change always comes from within us. Don’t expect 225 people to solve all problems, to perform miracles and do magic. There are so many limitations in Parliament and the Executive. The ‘protest’ is a fantastic example where people came together and showed what they can do peacefully and transform the political culture. How can we transform this energy into a positive movement? How can we convert this energy to transform Sri Lanka into a more powerful island nation? Let’s start making a change and then we all can be proud of ourselves.