UNP Chairman and Highways, Road Development and Petroleum Resources Minister Kabir Hashim, who is one of the vociferous supporters of Sajith Premadasa presidential candidacy campaign, in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer, explained the rationale behind their decision to rally round Premadasa junior and why the party should affirm his nomination without delay.
Excerpts of the interview:
Q. What is the update on the committee appointed to select the UNF candidate, in which you are also a member?
A. I think that committee is a red herring. The Prime Minister never called up the committee report. I have prepared a report. Myself and Minister Ranjith Maddumabandara spoke to the minority parties and UNP MPs. We have also got data and information on the best course of action for the UNP at the upcoming election, and we have been ready with the report.
The Prime Minister has nominated Rajitha Senaratne and Dinesh Weerakkody to represent him in the committee. At yesterday’s (Sep 20) party leaders meeting at Temple Trees, the committee report was not even referred to.
The report was to be a collective effort. It should have been made together but the others were not attending the meetings so we made a report on our own. It was finalised after a series of discussions with our alliance members, all UNP MPs, and after weighing in the information and data of the current political scenario.
Q. Why have you rallied round Minister Sajith Premadasa, and why do you think that he has an edge over Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is claimed to be the front runner in the election?
A. I don’t agree with the front runner claim. I don’t think he is the front runner, at the moment he is the underdog. He is lagging behind, even though he began his campaign two months before Sajith Premadasa.
I support Sajith Premadasa because if anyone has any sense of people’s sentiments - politics is all about public sentiments and I am a firm believer in that - this is the first time after a long time a UNP member has received such a huge support base all over the country. Being the Chairman of the UNP, my duty is to ensure my party comes up with the best candidate for the people who will ensure victory for the party.
It is based on those principles that I have backed his candidacy and it is not a personal choice to support Sajith Premadasa, it is what’s best for the party.
Q. How many UNP MPs are with Minister Sajith Premadasa at the moment?
A. Anyone and everyone who loves the UNP is with him. I don’t want to give a number, but I would say the majority of the MPs are with Sajith Premadasa.
Q. The TNA was a decisive vote taker for the UNF at the 2015 election. Have you had discussions with the minority parties in the coalition, especially the TNA and what is the outcome of those discussions?
A. As far as the TNA is concerned, we have spoken to them, the Prime Minister has spoken to them. There is an ongoing discussion with them.
At the Friday night meeting at Temple Trees, most of the party leaders of the alliance were there. The majority of the UNF members are also supporting Sajith Premadasa’s candidacy. Patali Champika Ranawaka, Rauff Hakeem, Mano Ganeshan and Rishad Bathiudeen have expressed that they wanted to support Sajith Premadasa who is seen as the most popular candidate in the Alliance.
So even the alliance is now geared to supporting Sajith Premadasa as their candidate and our party leader Hon. Ranil Wickremasinghe, based on these developments, will take this up tomorrow with Hon. Sajith Premadasa. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday has announced his withdrawal from seeking UNP candidacy. Now there is no question of another UNP candidate, so it will be Sajith Premadasa.
Q. In case the Party Leader decides against naming Sajith Premadasa, do you have a plan B? Can you resort to the party constitution for a way out?
A. When there is more than one candidate, the party will refer it to the working committee. It will then appoint a nomination board, then there will be a process where the working committee and the parliamentary group will decide it in a vote.
Q. The Alliance parties are happy to field a UNP candidate?
A. They have specifically said they are happy with a UNP candidate.
Q. Reports indicate that there is strong pressure on Minister Premadasa to go for a ‘separate broad coalition’ leaving the green party. Will you ultimately take that decision?
A. The UNP will also be an integral part of that broad coalition. There will of course be a separate constitution, vision statement, etc. But our candidate will definitely be the common candidate of the broad alliance. We will have enough room for progressive parties and likeminded progressive individuals to join this platform. We are looking for visionary thinkers. The UNP must change its ideology according to the changing times.
Q. So you will not succumb to the pressure to leave the party and contest independently?
A. When the majority of members support his candidacy, I can’t think of any reason why he should leave the party. So definitely he must contest from the UNP.
Q. Minister Sajith Premadasa has said that he was ready to face a ‘secret vote’ among the UNP parliamentary group to confirm his Presidential candidacy, why must you go for a secret vote and not an open vote?
A. The party can adopt any of the two methods. But senior party members said it was better to appoint the candidate through consensus rather than go for a division. Even late J.R. Jayawardena when he had to make the choice of naming R. Premadasa, avoided going for a vote, despite having contenders like Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake.
Q. What is your candidate’s stance on problems of Tamil speaking people and National Security? He has not addressed these two critical issues in his campaign.
A. He has not started his campaign yet. The UNP and the alliance, everyone knows what the alliance stands for, it stands for an inclusive society, a secular society, democracy and rights. We stand for a united Sri Lanka and we look at giving equal opportunity to every citizen, we understand there are huge political questions and issues confronting the Tamil community in particular.
We have to address them. We will have an inclusive process to get the consensus of the country to resolve the burning issues including the issues faced by the Tamil community.
Q. What may have merited the special cabinet meeting to discuss the abolition of Presidency on Thursday even after the notice of the next presidential election was issued?
A. We were surprised. We were informed of the meeting close to noon and no one knew what it was. Even if a large number of people were supporting the abolition of presidency, it’s not the way to do it. It has to be through a democratic process. After an election is already announced, there is no way of doing it.
Q. Was there fisticuffs before the pre-Cabinet meeting at Temple Trees on Thursday as reported in web-based media?
A. There were heated arguments but there were no fisticuffs.
Q. TNA has said they were disappointed with the UNP group which opposed the move to go for abolition of executive presidency, will that cause a fallout with the minority party which could perhaps pose as a decisive factor in the upcoming election?
A. If they are disappointed with the opposition, then they must be disappointed with all the members. We all opposed the move to do it at the eleventh hour.
No one supported it. What we said is that the process and the approach is wrong. We are not opposing the abolition of the presidency. We will definitely have a dialogue about the presidency.And even if all UNP members went ahead with it, such a huge constitutional amendment cannot be passed in parliament before the next presidential election.