candidates. Wewillannounceit at the appropriatetime.
YourbrotherGotabayaRajapaksahas beentalking
aboutcontesting...
Yes.He hasbeentalkingaboutit. Thereare a lot of
peoplewhowantto be the candidate.
Thereis also this talk of a non-politicalcandidatefor the
post of the President.
Yes.YoutakeGotabaya. He is a non-politician.But
anybody whois a non-politician,whenhe contests, he
becomesa politician. So oncehe contests,he can’tsay “I
am nota politician”.
Whatwill be yourrole in the new schemeof things?
Becauseof the 19th Amendmentto the Sri Lankan
Constitution,underwhicha person can be President
only for two terms,you will not be able to contest...
I am in Parliament now.No onecanstopthatwithout
two-thirdsmajoritynow.[Laughs]
Is it too earlyfor the SLPPto decidewhichpartieswill
formthe coalition?
Weare organising ourselves. Weare taking up
people’s issuesandorganisingprotests.Eventoday[June
2] thereis a protest in Matara.Wehavemobilisedour
cadreacrossthecountry. Thepeopleareagainstthe
governmentandwe see it across Sri Lanka.
How is the SLPPreceivedin Tamil-dominatednorthern
Sri Lanka?
Nowwe aregettinga lot of support.These people
weresupportingtheTNA [TamilNational Alliance]
earlier. Youngstersare joining us...in Jaffnapeninsula.
Wehaveverygoodleadersfromthecommunity.This
electionyouwillsee the change.
WeknowthattheTNAhasfailedin thelastfour
years.Nothing hashappened. In my time, soonafterthe
war,we got electricity,roads,hospitals,governmentof-
fices,andpolicestations[in the NorthernProvince].You
go thereandsee.Anythingthatwasbuilttherewasdone
duringthattime.
Thistime[fromthisgovernment], theTamilshave
not got anything.Theissueis thatthe Tamils[TNA]are
supportingthegovernmentfromoutside.Why?The
Muslims [politicalparties],theyjoinedthe government,
got goodMinistriesandwerehelpingtheircommunity.
Butthesepeople[theTNA]arenothelpingthe
community.Youngstersare withoutjobs. Thepaddysup-
portpriceis poor.So is the casewithotheragricultural
products. Thereare no meansof livelihood.Thereis no
forwardmovement. Thisis the mistakethatthey[TNA]
did.Eithertheymustjointhegovernment andget the
benefits outof it, or be in theoppositionandgetthe
benefits and give it to the people.Buttheyare notdoing
that.I toldthisto Sambandan[TNAleader]several
times.Eitheryoujointhem[thegovernment]orfind out
whatthe peoplewantandget it for them. Butnothingis
happening.Forinfrastructuredevelopment,moneywas
given,but nothinghappened. Thepeopleknow this.They
are notfools.Just aheadof the last presidentialelection,you and
someSri LankanpoliticiansaccusedIndiaof interfering
in the Sri Lankanelection...
Thatis the past. I do notwantto talkaboutthat.In this election,how do you thinkthe powersthat are
entrenchedherewill react?
No countryshouldget involvedin ourlocalpolitics. I
understandtheyare all interestedin it. Myfirst interest
andpreference willalwaysbe Sri Lanka.It is alsomy
second,thirdandfourthinterest.So,withinthefour
yearsthatI had,from 2010 to 2014,I triedto developSri
Lanka. To do that,I wentto Indiaandaskedfor support.
I did not get the support.Then,whatdo I do?Chinagave
me the money.It wasa purelycommercial deal.
Theproblemwasafterone[Chinese]submarine
cameandwent. It wasnot parkedhere.Butnowwhathas
happened?Theyhave come,andtheyare staying here.
Theyarestayingin Hambantota [a SriLankan port
developedby the Chinese].Theyare staying in Colombo.
Thegovernmenthasgiven suchlongleases,some for 99
years, in somecases, suchas the ColomboPort,for 200
years. Chinais all over.Thisgovernmenthasgiventhat.It appearsthat you havea goodequationwith Prime
MinisterNarendraModi.You havemet him in Delhiand
he meetsyou eachtimehe is in Colombo...
Yes.I thinkhe understandsthesituation [inSri
Lanka] muchbetter.Whatdoesthe futureof the countrylook like?The
economyis down,unemployment is high,and you havea
host of otherproblemstoo.
Theeconomyis down.We havea lot to do. We haveto
attract foreign investment. Thepresenttaxationsystem
hasto be changed.Now,eventhe localinvestoris reluct-
antto invest becauseof theheavytaxes.Theansweris
thatyes,there shouldbe taxes,but theyshouldnot be this
high.Wehave had30 yearsof war.Youmustfirst allow
the peopleto earn.If youtax peoplewithoutfirst allowing
themto earn,it willnot work. Thistax systemis prevent-
inglocalandforeigninvestorsfrominvestingin Sri
Lanka.On the resolutionto the Tamilquestion,do you still
standby 13+ [implementingthe 13th Amendmentto the
Sri LankanConstitutionand goingbeyondit]?
Now,whatI meant wasthaton the13+we can
negotiateon the creationof a senate.Wewillsharethe
powers of the Centre.We will strengthen the pradeshika
sabhas [provincial councils].We can negotiate all of that.Will the negotiationsbe basedon the 13th Amendment
or will they go beyond?
Theywillbe basedon the 13thAmendment.But,you
know, thereare some...issues.Wecandiscussall that.$