“government has absolutely no experience” – Rosy Senanayake

• I would like to see more women in politics
• My biggest victory was the waste-to-energy project  
• I was able to install 200 smart lamp posts in a bid to make Colombo a smart city to survey the 
• entire city  
• If you say failure of governments then the JVP was also part of successive governments and some of the major failures were caused 
• by them
• This time the people bought a lie. When they say let’s catch the rogues, there’s money in Uganda etc., people will buy these rhetoric. We saw this in 2019 and I hope this time we haven’t been foolish

Former Mayoress of Colombo and United National Party (UNP) stalwart Rosy Senanayake will be contesting from the Colombo District under the New Democratic Front ticket. In a candid interview with the Daily Mirror, Senanayake explained why former UNP candidates are contesting under a new Party and a symbol while sharing her thoughts about the new government, challenges and opportunities she has as a candidate from Colombo and the need for women’s empowerment under the new government. Excerpts: 
Q:What are your observations regarding the recent Presidential Elections? Did you expect the final result?
That’s not what I expected, but one thing about me is I do respect democracy. Once the people have given their decision I respect that and I allow the newly appointed President and Prime Minister to deliver on their promises. We will take a backseat and see how we can revamp ourselves and see how we are going to restructure the UNP. One of the reasons why I’m contesting this time is also to ensure that we can revamp the Party and also see exactly how we could be a stronger Opposition. In a democracy there has to be an Opposition and there has to be checks and balances. People may vote in for a simple or bigger majority and that’s up to the people. It has been over a month since the President was elected and we see much drawbacks and a lot of things they could have done differently. What I see right now is that they weren’t prepared to take over the government. They had no plan and they didn’t have a restructure or people to appoint to the necessary portfolios. They are unprepared even now. But my opinion is to give them (Govt.) at least a good two years to perform and then we will be able to say whether the people were correct or not. But I expected people to have given Ranil a Wickremesinghe this term just to finish what we had to do. We were not in a very stable situation and we had just come out of the difficult times. It would have been better if we had 2-3 years to finish what we had to and to see light at the end of the tunnel.   
Q:All UNP candidates are contesting under a new symbol and a new Party at the upcoming election. Don’t you think this is a disadvantage?
The reason is because RW contested as an independent candidate at the Presidential Elections and we didn’t expect a General Elections soon after. So it was too soon for us to regroup ourselves and therefore those who supported the former President decided to contest under this new symbol. But many other candidates including myself wanted to contest under the elephant symbol. But for the sake of the UNP I decided to contest under the new symbol just to make sure that the UNP enters Parliament and we become a stronger Party again.   
Q: People seem to have rejected traditional politics. Do you think going forward the UNP requires a restructuring of the Party policies and perhaps a change in leadership?
Absolutely. People were asking for a system change. But I don’t know if Anura Kumara Dissanayake was the system change that they wanted. However they have voted for him and I strongly believe that this is a vote they gave in haste and anger. People were angry with the two main parties that have ruled for many years. They felt that 2022 was a culmination of wrongdoings of everybody who has been in politics. But the JVP has also been in politics and if we talk about the wrongdoings the JVP is also very much part of them. If you take ‘88/89, the wrongdoing of bringing Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2005, but I have all the respect for MR for ending the war. They helped us in 2015 to secure power. The Anti-Corruption Commission was formed and they were given the power to deal with whoever who was corrupt and execute what they promised. But nothing happened. So we need to think differently we are in the 21st Century, bring new blood, new faces and also get the younger generation to shoulder responsibilities. I would like to see more women in politics, I would like to see 50% (Women) in Parliament, but how do you do that? During this election campaign, Lal Kantha spoke in a very derogatory manner when referring to Chamindrini Kiriella. The sexist remarks he made about her on a political platform was a no-no for me. You don’t look at women for how they look, their colour etc. I was shocked to see that somebody would speak like that. So we need to have a different political culture and first of all we need to change mindsets and attitudes about everything.  
Q:Don’t you think that it is the failure of successive governments that paved the way for the NPP win?  
Yes and no. It is the failure of successive governments, failure of the Opposition to be a strong Opposition and it is a culmination of a lot of things. If you say failure of governments then the JVP was also part of successive governments and some of the major failures were caused by them. This time the people bought a lie. When they say let’s catch the rogues, there’s money in Uganda etc., people will buy these rhetoric. We saw this in 2019 and I hope this time we haven’t been foolish.   
Q:You have been the Mayoress of Colombo, but this time there are new candidates contesting from Colombo and they have big plans for the capital city. What are the challenges and opportunities you see during this election?   
I think there are loads of opportunities and challenges, perhaps more challenges than opportunities. During my tenure, my biggest victory was the waste-to-energy project. Today it’s not only the waste from Colombo 1-15, but waste from Kaduwela, Kolonnawa and surrounding areas also goes to the Kerawalapitiya waste-to-energy plant. It generates 10MW of power to the grid. I was able to develop the infrastructure including old sewer lines with the help of the Asian Development Bank. I was able to install 200 smart lamp posts in a bid to make Colombo a smart city to survey the entire city. I was able to seek support from the World Food Programme and UN agencies to support underserved communities in the city. We have supported women to develop entrepreneurial skills and in various other social work. The female labour force hasn’t reached 36%.   
Q: There are alternative discourses with regards to legalising abortion and prostitution that came to the fore alongside the NPP’s political campaign. What are your comments?
I have heard Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Samanmalee Gunasinghe talking about legalising prostitution and abortion. That is a no-no for me. Legalising prostitution is not the answer. No woman would want to violate her dignity or self-respect. One would only enter a profession of that nature if they are desperately in a need to survive, to feed the family, send children to school, pay utility bills and rent etc. Even at present, you will find many spas in the Colombo city and many women being exploited without these places being legalised. If these activities are legalised the middlemen will bring women and there will be trafficking from the estate sector, rural areas etc. This will become a huge social issue. We are a Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islam country and none of our religions would allow something of this nature. This isn’t the answer. We need to help women and empower them with soft skills such as sewing, baking etc. On the other hand, there are many illegal abortions taking place in the country and studies indicate that it is the married women who opts for abortions more than unmarried women. If women are educated enough, they don’t have to experience unexpected pregnancies.   
Q: Your message to voters?  
People should think sensibly. We voted the President in. You can vote for a new government, a government with experienced people. The present government has absolutely no experience and they have retained the same people RW has been working with. That’s good but we need a strong Parliament. Elect the right people from the right parties. This is not a time for experiments, trials and errors.