5 March 2024 12:00 am Views - 4043
He said, “It is time for SJB
to put itself out
of disarray as an
important election is
approaching fast”.
Excerpts of the interview
Q: What party activities are you involved in these days?
We have carried out a youth programme of the party and have been establishing Yowun Bala Mandalas (Youth Councils) in some areas. We have successfully established bala mandalas in Kegalle and Ratnapura. We were expecting to have the balamandala in Gampaha.
Q: You come from a predominantly catholic area. There was a repeated plea from the catholic leaders in Sri Lanka- including Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith- who had conveyed that the people must elect a new group to lead this country. Where do you think the catholic vote would go in
future elections?
The Catholic vote had gone in favour of the UNP in the past. However SJB seemed to have captured a great portion of these votes in 2020. We feel that the situation would remain the same since SJB
is also a new party.
Q: You together with other catholic MPs in your party lobbied for the justice of Easter Sunday bomb victims and their relatives. Has your lobbying been successful and are you happy with the progress of investigations?
Myself, MPs Hector Appuhamy and Nisroshan Perera were lobbying for justice for the Easter Sunday bomb victims and their relatives. We went to the Office of the Human Rights UN and took up the case. I also took it up with the secretary of state Vatican. The Government promised to bring in Scotland Yard and carry out an international probe. However the Government had not kept its promise. We shall be lobbying for it in the future as well.
Q: There seemed to be disputes within SJB with the party chairman getting into a confrontation with the party leadership. Will it lead to a division within
the party?
There are disputes within the party. However we have to resolve these issues as soon as possible as we have to face other parties during elections that are to be held this year.
Q: There are allegations that the SJB leadership is taking off the time allocated for SJB MPs to speak in Parliament. What are your comments?
The leader does take time when speaking in Parliament. However he does that to highlight issues which are of national interest. He often comes up with some critical questions.
Q: You were lobbying against what you called fraudulent procurement of medicines. The former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella is behind bars as of now. Are you happy with the progress regarding this past issue connected to medicines?
Yes we are happy with the progress as it was we who stood up against those frauds. However we cannot speak much about these investigations as there is a court
case pending.
Q: Are you happy with the performance of the new Health Minister?
The health ministry is not what it used to be now. So-called emergency procurements have been stopped. This is a positive sign.