By Prasad Gunewardene

UNP Colombo District candidate Milinda Moragoda claimed that entering Parliament has become so important to some people and they were prepared to indulge in killing opponents to achieve this end. "No election is worth a person’s life", he stressed.

In an interview with ‘The Island’ the former UNP National List MP Moragoda now contesting the Colombo District, , in reply to a question whether he saw a clean victory for the UNP at the December 5 elections, said he was not prepared to double guess the will of the people and if the people favoured the UNP they would vote for it.

Following is the full text of the interview.

Q. Having entered Parliament on the UNP National List last year, what made you decide to contest this time? Have you really made a political base in the Colombo district during a short spell of one year?

A. I entered Parliament with great ideals and hope. I soon realised that the system was designed to perpetuate the system and that so many Members were there only for personal gain. Frankly the last year was a waste of time. I was not able to achieve anything of significance. It made me realise that the system had to change.

Have you been to Parliament in recent times. You can hardly call it a debating chamber - more an insulting chamber. There is very little effort to discuss the problems of our country. Each Member of Parliament is busy looking after his own area to ensure votes at the next election and the perpetuation of the system. 1 don’t blame them. I blame the system that has been created where this behaviour is tolerated.

I soon realised that I could do nothing without the authority of the people. I have laid out my vision and if people feel it is right then they should vote accordingly. I do not want to get into Parliament unless I feel I have the support of the people for what I am trying to do. People before me have tried this and failed because they tried to do it alone. I intend to create a change in partnership with the people.

On the question of the political base. Perhaps you should come to my office and see the sheer quantity of e-mails, letters and telephone calls we have received. People who voted for other parties before and many who had given up on the system and not voted before. Perhaps I can use your interview to apologise to those who have not received a reply from me yet. We have been overwhelmed by the response.

Q. How far are you confident of gaining entry this time as the Colombo list of the UNP looks a tough one?

A. I don’t like the idea of double guessing the voters. If they believe in what I am trying to achieve then they will vote for me. If they don’t then I shall accept their judgement and go off and help our society in some other way. But I do believe that I can make a greater contribution through Parliament than as a private individual.

Q. You are the only candidate who has shunned the poster campaign. Don’t you think it is disadvantageous to a newcomer like you when even seniors in all parties still resort to such campaigns.

A. Each of us must fight our campaigns in the ways we see fit. I decided not to display posters for a number of reasons. Most of the election violence is caused when rival groups putting up posters clash. People die. Is the election really worth the loss of one life? So if you don’t display posters your supporters don’t end up in fights.

Then there is the point that displaying posters is illegal. How can you be a lawmaker if you break the law. It doesn’t make sense. In addition there is the matter of the environment and the unsightliness of all those posters. So no, I think I am happy to not put up posters.

Q. You are viewed as an intellect and in an area like Kirulapona or Narahenpita - what is the response of the common people in those areas where slums and shanties are aplenty?

A. It doesn’t matter where you live, what your origin, religion or political persuasion. Most people are inherently decent. That is why our campaign has resonated so well across the whole spectrum. If anything more so in the slum areas because they more than most realise that the politicians have failed them.

How can we be at the start of the 21st century and still see such people having to live in those conditions. We should all feel ashamed. I don’t say that I can change everything but I think that they realise that the days of promises before elections and silence after elections has got them nowhere.

Q. During the past two weeks you were seen as the roads, buses, and trains campaigning the people may have placed their problems and what solutions has your party for the people?

A. You should have come out with me. Incidentally you still can because I haven’t finished. And I intend to continue doing it after the election. Anyway’ there is deep cynicism amongst the people. A deep distrust of politicians. More than one said that they didn’t expect to see me after I got their vote. There are wrong.

Anyway, to your question. This is not an overnight thing. Despite what you may have heard, our economy is in a real mess. The UNP may have a good record of economic management but even this is going to require great skills.

First we have to get the economy more investor and donor friendly. That means making them confident that their money will be spent wisely. Then to manage the economy through a dedicated team (not one person trying to do all of the jobs).

After that reforms to make exporting easier and less bureaucratic. Then an economic reform programme and restructuring of the domestic economy. Followed by maximising bilateral trade arrangements.

After this we will need to develop the domestic private sector and encourage people to risk take in new sectors. There is lots more but that is the essence of our strategy. I should give you one word of warning. We make no promises and we don’t expect it to be easy but we believe it can be done.

Q. For what reasons do you refrain from a poster campaign being a debutante contestant?

A. I think for the reasons I gave you a few minutes ago.

Q. Do you see a clear victory for the UNP at this election as violence is rampant and bound to increase in the coming days?

A. I don’t know. Nor do I think we should try to double guess the will of the people. I am trying my hardest to explain our policies and my vision to the people. If they like them then they will vote for them. If they want more of the same then they will vote for the PA or JVP.

The one thing that really horrifies me is the level of violence. Getting to Parliament has become so important to some people that they are prepared to kill for this. In other countries they talk of coming into office, here we refer to coming into power. That about sums it up. Too many politicians have become power mad and it has made them crazy people. No election is worth a person’s life.

Q. If the UNP forms a Government, do you think that it could work under the Presidency of the incumbent President who is at 1oggerheads with you Leader?

A. Look, many things are said during elections. Currently the Government are playing the tactic that the president wouldn’t work with a UNF government or that the President will dissolve Parliament every year until she gets her way.

In the first place I do not think that any of this will happen. Nor should it. The will of the people in a democracy should be heard by all politicians. If the people say a UNF Government will work with a PA President then it is incumbent upon us to make it happen. Ranil understands this.

If the President chooses to ignore the will of the people then she must answer to the people. But I really don’t think it will come to that. Anyway most of their arguments are contradictory.

In one breath they say that if we get a UNF Government then the LTTE will run the country. How can this be when in the next breath the President is saying that she won’t hand over control to any UNF Government.

I think there is a lot of hype there that your readers would do well to ignore.

Q. During this election you have travelled the length and breadth of this Colombo District. Peoples’ need are more be it upper, middle or poorer class. If elected to Parliament from the UNP which says it will win, what have you got for the needy people in the Colombo District?

A. Everyone wants two things. An end to the war and the economy back on its feet. The latter displays itself in the rise in the cost of living.

We have to tackle both as priorities. They both help the poor. If we can end the war then we have more money to alleviate poverty. And if we can get the economy working again that will mean more jobs, more money in peoples’ pockets, better education and better health care. Perhaps we can also help to house people in cleaner conditions where their homes don’t get flooded every time it rains

But look, I am not prepared to do what so many others have done in the past and promise all sorts of goodies. As Lee Qwan Yu once said "Sri Lankan elections are a periodic auction of non existent resources". He was right and people have to realise that parties who suddenly go on a spending spree at election time are trying to buy their vote. I don’t think the people are that stupid.

Q. You are a student of economics, the state of the present economy is said to be at a precipice. Can a UNP government under the leadership of a PA President elected to lead until 2005 revive the economy especially with the President enjoying the portfolio of finance?

A. Well you have made a lot of assumptions there. I would say that a UNF Government led by Ranil Wickremesinghe with a team of Ministers’ each with a portfolio, one of which would be finance working with the President can certainly make it happen.

I think the President realises that she has made a mess of it. If we can find an honourable way out for her I am sure she would be happy to see the end of her Presidency with a strong and prosperous Sri Lanka. But then all of this is hypothetical because we haven’t won yet. The most important thing is that if people want a change of government then they will need to vote in large numbers to achieve their aim.