STANCE
The destiny of any country and the well-being of its people depend on the competency of the political leadership that makes decisions that effect national policies. It has been Sri Lanka’s misfortune that for a long time too many of these decisions have been made by too many mediocre politicians. The result is the present-day Sri Lanka we live in, a country that lags behind the rest of the world in spite of the island’s breathtaking potential.
For the first time in more than 30 years, we are living in a country without war. It is a season of hope for Sri Lanka and we must take advantage of this immediately. Now is the time for change. We cannot hesitate and must take immediate steps to create equal political, cultural, economic, and educational opportunities for all Sri Lankan citizens. We must talk with each other and work together to create an atmosphere where everyone truly feels that equality. We can then walk forward hand in hand towards the peaceful and prosperous future that all Sri Lankans yearn for and deserve.
The youth of Sri Lanka are intelligent and capable. Yet the education system that existed in the last 50 years, an education in the mother tongue only, has deprived Sri Lankan youth the many opportunities that are available to young people in other parts of the world. We must now think seriously about putting a stop to this waste of youth talent. A clear example of this wastage is the lack of tertiary education facilities today for all who qualify for it through the A/L examinations. I believe one of the greatest challenges before the nation in the next decade is providing these youth with opportunities to enter tertiary education that makes them employable anywhere in the world. If we take a look at our giant neighbor, India, we see such a contrast to our country. Its education system has provided opportunities to large sections of its youth, enabling them to not only find employment in their country and help in its growth, but also to move as professionals to other parts of the world. Thus, they contribute to global growth and send foreign currency back to their motherland, which has become one of the richest in terms of owning foreign reserves.
At the same time, we cannot pause in our efforts to create a viable economic environment in Sri Lanka. Today too many people live below the poverty line and there is too much disparity between the richest and poorest sections of the society. Many Sri Lankans live day-to-day not knowing how to get their next meal. This should not be the situation in a country with as many resources as Sri Lanka.
These, I believe, are three of the most important needs that we must focus on.
- Equal political, cultural, economic and educational opportunities.
- Access to satisfactory education that reaches global standards, and to the technological and scientific advances that happen daily around the world.
- A viable economic environment that provides a sufficient income to its citizens.
These are not beyond our reach, but for a long time too many mediocre political leaders have been making the decisions that effect these factors. We must put a stop to this trend.
I stand in this election, as I have in previous elections, to bring something different to these mediocre politicians who have become the unfortunate norm in the people’s idea of a political leader. Before I took on full-time politics, I garnered a versatility of experience and qualifications in both Sri Lanka and abroad in areas as diverse as education, economics, diplomacy and public service.
I was a lecturer of Economics at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura and later served as its longest-standing Vice-Chancellor. As an Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Employment, I worked to eradicate the unemployment problems of graduates at the time. As the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Japan and later to the Republic of Korea, I successfully worked to increase these countries’ investments and development assistance in Sri Lanka. All of these positions have expanded my understanding of national and international political governance and nation-building.
In the national political sphere, I have been a long-standing member of the United National Party (UNP), being involved in politics since my undergraduate days in the 1960’s. I served as the General Secretary of the All Ceylon UNP Youth League and have been a member of the main Party Working Committee since 1974. I was a member of the UNP Policy and Program Committee of the UNP, the report of which was the basis of the 1977 UNP manifesto that radically changed the political and socio-economic landscape of Sri Lanka.
I was a Member of Parliament for a decade, since 1994, and the Cabinet Minister of Education, Cultural Affairs & Human Resources Management in the UNP government in 2001. In this capacity, I worked to further opportunities for Sri Lanka’s younger generations to access modernity and achieve excellence in education. I also focused on enhancing the reach of the needy sections of our population to the benefits that continually arise from scientific and technological development. I further paid close attention to supporting and assisting cultural heritage management and understanding towards improving the cohesiveness among our communities while recognizing the uniqueness of our cultural diversity.
As such, I am extremely confident I will be able to make a positive contribution, particularly in the fields in which I have experience and expertise, especially education, economic affairs, diplomacy and management.
At present the image of politicians is at its lowest since many people join politics as a money-making venture and to use political office to gain fame, popularity and help their own kith and kin.
Corruption and abuse of power has become the norm. This is the great national tragedy of Sri Lankan politics. The inevitable result of this situation is mass poverty, unemployment and frustration not only in the present generation, but in generations to come.
The situation is so critical that not only our children, but even the unborn children of our children have been mortgaged through national debt for the well-being of a handful of politicians and their clans. At present, most of their day-to-day expenditure such as food, petrol, housing and entertainment are financed by public funds of which a large portion is financed by loans.
I stand in this election in stark contrast to the corruption, hypocrisy and double talk of so many other politicians. We are at a turning point in the history of our nation, at the brink of a golden age, after decades of death, destruction and missed opportunities. We cannot let corruption, thuggery, nepotism and cronyism at the highest levels of government continue to take our opportunities away from us any longer.
We must now be committed to act together to solve the national problems that confront us all, including the advancement of national unity, education and better access to technology and development.
We have been given the opportunity to make these changes on the 08th of April 2010.
I stand in this election to urge you to take a stance against the current political culture and elect a qualified and experienced professional who can introduce a new political culture that will bring prosperity to everyone through economic growth and social justice.
