People’s representatives need to have a vision, said Nipuna Ranawaka, the youngest candidate contesting the General Election from the Matara district in an interview with the Sunday Observer.
Excerpts
Q: What made you venture into politics?
A: I was inspired by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s style of politics since my childhood. Politics became my forte. When I was a university student, the then Minster Basil Rajapaksa got me involved in the implementation of a self-employment program for low-income earners. I have followed a Business Management Special Course.
I could work for the Matara people crisscrossing 1,881 villages in the district for over five year. I have formulated a mechanism to ensure my political journey.
Q: Are you not attempting to benefit from your connections with the Rajapaksa family during the election?
A: No, my relationship is not an instrument for me. My political mechanism is quite independent. That I am the son of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s and Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s sister is no qualification for me to pursue politics. People’s representatives need to have a vision.
Q: How do you view Sri Lanka’s situation in the global context and the direction the country should take under the leadership of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa?
A: The President’s Saubagya Dekma aims at placing Sri Lanka along with Asia’s five flourishing countries. Sri Lanka has resources unlike Singapore. Unfortunately, the country is in a deplorable state today. A new economic policy was implemented in 1977 by paving the way for unnecessary importation, today, everything is imported. Everybody talks of Singapore’s success, but many keep mum on how Singapore achieved it. The secret is ‘public discipline’.
Q: What is your vision on the future of the Matara district?
A: Provision of potable water supply, development of the Gandara fishery harbour and business opportunities in the Matara Fort, can be listed as development priorities. I have prepared a framework to develop Matara.