Vice Chairman of the Sarvajana Balaya and its Gampaha District candidate Prof. Channa Jayasumana in an interview with the Sunday Observer spoke about the new political transformation that took place in the country after the September 21 Presidential election and the way forward. Prof. Jayasumana said this political transformation is a must and they support it fully. When traditional elite political families are rejected, he was optimistic that a new generation of young politicians would emerge and that opportunity is available for them in the National People’s Power (NPP) and the Sarvajana Balaya, the only two political movements left at the ground level today. Whatever the party they represent, he called upon the voters to think twice and vote for the youth and female candidates as we need to change the political paradigm of the country.
Excerpts of the interview
Q: Numerous political coalitions have been formed to contest the upcoming general election. When the main Opposition is also divided into several factions such as the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and the New Democratic Front (NDF), do you think the Sarvajana Balaya has a better chance to secure more seats and become the main Opposition in Parliament?
A: It is clear that the main Opposition has not done its duty properly during the past four years. That is why they couldn’t come to power at the recently concluded Presidential election. Obviously, we can observe at the ground level that the people are deviating from the SJB. The Sarvajana Balaya is contesting in all 22 electoral districts in the country. We believe we have a good opportunity at the forthcoming general election to become the main Opposition of the country.
Q: Your political alliance consisting of former Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) constituents has declared the grouping as a brave and strong Opposition to be formed in Parliament. Could you explain?
A: In fact, the real situation at the ground level is that most of the former Local Government members are gradually shifting towards us. At present, the ground network which belongs to the SLPP is with us. If you look at our nomination list, more than 20 chairmen and deputy chairmen of Local Government bodies are contesting from our list. You will definitely see the results not only at the upcoming general election but also at the Local Government election scheduled to be held in January or February next year. We are now forming our ground network. At least, we have one organiser for each and every Grama Niladhari division. At present, we have a very strong network which is only second to the National People’s Power (NPP).
Q: Amid various crises which emerged within the SJB, do you think Sajith Premadasa is even in a position to secure the Opposition Leader’s post?
A: Now the challenge before Sajith Premadasa is not to retain his Opposition Leader post but to safeguard his leadership in the SJB. It is very obvious with the available information that his leadership has been challenged in the SJB because of his behaviour, inability to communicate and lack of organisational skills. All these have now compelled the SJB members to rethink whether Sajith Premadasa is a capable leader or should they go for another alternative. As far as I know, that is being discussed within the party. Now, they are looking as to whether Sajith Premadasa can retain his leadership position at the SJB till November 14. Actually, this is the key challenge before him and not the Leader of the Opposition’s post. Even if he gets elected to Parliament through the SJB as its leader, it is very uncertain whether he can be the next Leader of the Opposition.
Q: As a frontliner of the SLPP what led you to quit the party and join hands with the Sarvajana Balaya?
A: The SLPP had a good philosophy, organisational structure and aims and objectives at the beginning. However, when we consolidate power, the leaders of the party think of only their family. They thought that it was an asset belonging to the Rajapaksa family. We have due respect for Mahinda Rajapaksa as the leader who eradicated terrorism and safeguarded the unitary state of the country. However, the other members of the Rajapaksa family thought that the SLPP was an asset that belongs to their family and that is how they behaved during the past four to five years.
Ultimately, it resulted in a breakdown of various factions within the party and they did not adhere to the original policies and philosophy of the party. That is why they quit the SLPP and formed an alliance with Ranil Wickremesinghe who was our main political rival for the past four decades in politics. We believed he was heading the non-national camp of the country. Earlier, we represented the national camp of the country. Ultimately, what happened was that the SLPP was gifted to Ranil Wickremesinghe on a platter in May, 2022 following the nightmarish incident of the Aragalaya. It created fertile land to form a new political movement for the national camp.
Q: Don’t you think that if the SLPP didn’t support electing Ranil Wickremesinghe as the President in Parliament, the SLPP should have not faced this kind of split and setback?
A: Simply to protect their power, SLPP leaders gifted the party to Ranil Wickremesinghe. Therefore, our members lost faith in the party and that was the beginning of the decline of the party. When we gifted the party to the leader of the non-national camp, it ultimately paved the way to deviate nearly 6.5 million members from the party. During the last Presidential election, the SLPP secured only 400,000 votes.
Q: Your party leader Dilith Jayaweera has highlighted the concept of ‘Modern Nationalism’ as a key focus for the alliance and stressed the need to move away from traditional interpretations often associated with racism and ethnic division. Would you like to comment?
A: We are absorbing all good things from other philosophies and other political movements. Whatever things we can absorb from modernism, we absorb it into nationalism and that is our theory. This is a modern nationalistic movement. We reject racism and believe all Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people should live together and contribute to form an entrepreneurial state. We believe in entrepreneurial activities and state. Unless we enhance our income and production, how can we survive in the current global arena? The debt we have to pay is enormous. We can’t survive without increasing the country’s productivity. That is why we have introduced the new concept of entrepreneurial state associated with nationalism. We absorb every good aspect of modernism while preserving all our traditional values.
Q: The frontliners of your party have said that the Sarvajana Balaya is contesting the upcoming general election not to secure the premier post, but are aiming to set up a ‘Brave Opposition’ in Parliament. Your comments?
A: In fact, we need to understand the reality that we will not become the main governing party during this election. At the same time, we believe that the opportunity should be given to the National People’s Power (NPP). Because the people gave a mandate to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the last Presidential election so that he could make all the promises into a reality in the forthcoming months. They also need Parliamentary power to fulfill those promises. They couldn’t secure power over the past six decades. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was established in 1965 and it will be almost 60 years of their political movement next year. During the past six decades, they rebelled and carried out an enormous number of protests and strikes in the country demanding power.
Ultimately, after six decades, the people gave them a mandate and they have made various promises. Now we should give them the opportunity to make those promises a reality. At the same time, we need a vibrant Opposition to see whether they can make those promises a reality. If they deviate from their promises there should be a strong Opposition to challenge them. In fact, certain things they mentioned in their manifesto are also similar to our policies. So, it doesn’t matter whether it is done by the NPP or the Sarvajana Balaya. If they are going to implement them, we will definitely support them. However, if they deviate from their original promises, we will challenge and exert pressure to make all those promises a reality. That is why we are asking the Opposition to function as a strong and a brave Opposition.
Q: A large number of prominent politicians had decided not to contest the upcoming general election. Is it mainly due to the new political transformation that took place in the country after the September 21 Presidential election?
A: In fact, this political transformation is a must. Over the past six to seven decades, several families dominated each and every district in the country. This domination should be done away at a certain stage. So, we support this transformation and it is a very good move. The opportunity should be given to youth to enter politics. There should be an opportunity for those who come through the free education system to enter mainstream politics. When these traditional elite political families are rejected, we feel a new generation of young politicians will emerge. That opportunity is available at the NPP and the Sarvajana Balaya. So, we are for this transformation.
Q: However, the NPP is of the view that these politicians have been categorically rejected by the people so that they have decided not to contest the election. Your views?
A: There may be various reasons why they are not contesting the election. Age may be one factor. At the same time, they may be involved in various types of corruption. So, they may need to think twice about their candidacy because a big challenge lies ahead for them. Perhaps they may be self-demoralised and that is also another reason. At present, traditional political camps have declined and deteriorated. All political powers such as the SJB, NDF, SLPP and the SLFP are on the decline. They are also political animals and they may feel there is no opportunity to contest the election and secure victory. Therefore, they have decided not to contest the upcoming general election. The NPP and the Sarvajana Balaya are the only two political movements left at the ground level. There will be only two major political movements in Sri Lankan politics in the next four to five months.
Q: The members of the former Government said the remarkable stabilisation of the country following a severe economic collapse within just two years was mainly due to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s leadership. However, he secured only 2.2 million votes while his rival candidate Sajith Premadasa obtained 4.3 million votes at the last Presidential election. How do you view this scenario?
A: We should be genuine to appreciate then President Ranil Wickremesinghe. He took over the country at a very difficult time and I personally believe he has done his job. He brought the country to some positive level ensuring both political and economic stability. If not for him, we would have been in great trouble. Therefore, we should appreciate his candid efforts. However, the issue is he stood with the wrong political camp. He stood with the Rajapaksa camp and crossed the line to protect the Rajapaksa family members from various allegations. It may be the reason why Ranil Wickremesinghe couldn’t gather a considerable number of votes during the last Presidential election. At the same time, there are many allegations against Wickremesinghe over the past 40 years of his political career. However, we will forget everything and give the credit to him for what he did during the past two years.
Q: Some people say the country’s power has been shifted from the elite class to the ordinary people and a new political transformation has commenced. What is your view?
A: This transformation took place in 1956 during the tenure of Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. This is some sort of different transformation rather than shifting power from elite group to non-elite group. I see this as a transformation of power from Kollupitiya to Nugegoda. The Sinhalese middle class has grabbed power. The elite class is still there and they will put all pressure to stop this transformation taking place. But there are positive aspects of this transformation and we are optimistic and we are for it. The majority of leaders in our camp also emerged from the free education system and they are also from the Sinhala middle class in villages so that we are for this transformation.
Q: Do you think the new Parliament would represent more new faces including you and women?
A: I hope the next Parliament will represent more youth and women. I wish all the best for young and female candidates for their campaign. Whatever the party they represent, I call upon all the voters to consider twice and vote for the youth and female candidates because we need to change the political paradigm of the country. We need more youth and female representation in Parliament. At the same time, intellectuals with political sense should represent the Parliament. We have observed the contribution of certain intellectuals who were elected to the last Parliament was minimal. They were not political animals and they were not sensitised with the political activities and their contribution was not met with the expected targets. Therefore, intellectuals with political sense should be elected to Parliament.