Independent MP Athuruliya Rathana Thera in an interview with the Daily News said a fair and national land policy would resolve the ‘national question. The Thera said the government has to formulate new policies in the next three years. “We also need structural changes and establish national planning and procurement commissions. Decisions will be made by these commissions, right now individuals make decisions; we want to change that, the Thera said.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: What are your plans forthe future?
A. What we expect from this government is to formulate new policies within the next three years. We also expect that they would make structural changes and establish a national planning commission and a procurement commission. The decisions will be made by them, right now individuals make decisions; we want to change that. I will decide what I will do after the next three years, I cannot say it right now.
Q: Your party has called for your resignation. So what is the political party you are going to work with in future?
A. I have not decided on any party yet. Right now I am thinking of forming a wide movement. We named it the National Council of Sri Lanka (NCSL) and we are now building that movement.
Q: Don't you have any political ambition?
A. No, I have no such at the moment.
Q: Have you got fed up with politics?
A. I believe that it is better to build a movement which goes beyond one political party. A movement is capable of achieving things that a party cannot. We can also work with different groups such as NGOs, civil society groups, and apolitical entities via a movement. We can approach any party and invite them to join us. When you work for one party, other parties will not come to you in fear of certain policies your party holds. But a movement give you more freedom to serve the country.
Q: When Buddhist monks first proposed to contest for seats in Parliament, their main argument was that they could serve the country better if they were in parliament. This has not worked very well and nothing much has been achieved. What is your view now on that decision?
A. I believe that we can achieve more through a mass movement than we do by joining a party.
Earlier I thought that could be achieved through the Jathika Hela Urumaya, but it simply turned into a traditional party.
Now my plan is to find ways to achieve my aim. We have launched the policy to achieve that goal.
Q: You have had several mass movements and campaigns and launched various policies before this but they achieved a little. What do you have to say in this regard?
A. I worked for several political parties. We built many movements. The National Movement Against Terrorism was one of them. But once the war ended, the need for that movement faded away. The Pivithuru Hetak Movement now has been transformed into the National Council. The Pivithuru Hetak was formed to oppose Mahinda Rajapaksa. Now it is being expanded with more groups joining in.
Q: Do you feel that your party restricted your involvement in such movements?
A. No there weren’t any restriction, but I believe that if I move beyond a party, I can engage more with such a movement. Many people like to be a part of something outside a political party. I could bring them all together. I am capable of bringing together different groups on one platform. So I believe I can use my ability for the betterment of the country.
Q: What is your key focus here? Many allege that you stand for many things and that your movement is too wide. What is your view on this allegation?
A. Yes, some may blame me, but the challenge we face today is to find a way to make the strongest impact using all the resources at our disposal? I will choose the method that has the greatest influence. Today our problems are connected to the international community. If you take the economic policy of Sri Lanka, many think that it is neo-liberal which gives a free hand to foreign market forces to come into Sri Lanka and operate as they like. But many do not come and invest here. We can no longer depend on them. That time is over. The whole world is moving towards a more protectionist/nationalistic economies, and they now question the principles of a neo-liberal economy.
A few multi-national companies dictate our policies. In the last 150 years, we used a large amount of coal and oil thereby causing the climate change crisis. A new growth model is needed for countries like ours to develop.
We are not Singapore, Malaysia or Korea; our country is still a village. So we have the opportunity to take a step back from the current growth model. European countries cannot do that since they have gone too far in that direction.
Q: The President has stated that we would follow a more sustainable growth path. But if we look at our overall economic plan, it supports urbanizsation and Megapolis building. So it is the same economic policy in the past we follow even now. What is your view?
A. Yes, nothing has changed. That is the problem. All the factories that the government promised us did not come here and only China grans us money.
The Chinese, with their experiences of the last government, figured out that our country has a very liberal economy.
They could have easily captured our economy. All they had to do was to bribe the right politicians. China is still thinking the same way and we have taken the easy path. We have loans to repay, so the easiest path to get rid of them, they think, is to sell the country to the Chinese.
Q: Is there an alternative to repay Chinese loans?
A. Yes. Right now we have to pay back USD 2 billion. We can renegotiate the terms of loans and reduce the interest rates.
We can also ask for more time to repay loans and then look at what we can sell fast and earn money from. If we take 2-3 years, we can repay the loans. This is only an issue at present. By giving more time to it, we can resolve it.
Q: So isn’t it better for you to be in the government to bring about all these changes?
A. I am with the government. I am working on the organic farming project with the President.
Q: Then you are with the President. Are not you?
A. Not exactly, I don’t have any responsibilities under the Prime Minister. It is with the Presidential Secretariat that the programme proceeds. Agriculture and Energy sectors are also with the SLFP. We cannot limit all this to just one or two ministries. But we have to start from somewhere.
Q: The SLFP has proposed an amended Constitution while the UNP a new Constitution. What is your view on this issue?
A. At the last election, the UNP lost. They got more seats but did not get the majority. Mahinda Rajapaksa also cannot topple the government and neither did he receive a mandate to be in power. Then it is only President Maithripla Sirisena, who received the mandate to run the government. So we have to base the government policy on his manifesto. This is a very sensitive issue and we have to do what we can. Some think that by making the ‘the whites’ happy with a new Constitution, we will get more money. Neither the Americans nor the Europeans have an interest in a new Constitution. It is we who are telling them that.
Q: But you too contested under the UNP ticket, did you not then agree to their manifesto in that instance?
A. True, but that does not speak of abolishing the Executive Presidency.
It spoke of a new Constitution but does not say much about it.
Q: A ‘new’ Constitution means a referendum. What is your view?
A. Yes, but how can we do that? We don’t even have two thirds majority in Parliament and the President also has to agree it. The President has to get his party’s approval. So how can this be done.
Q: Why are you no in favour of a referendum?
A. A referendum at this moment is very dangerous. You will just have the Tamils voting ‘No’ and the Sinhalese ‘Yes’ and vice versa, and that will cause major ethnic divisions. We would have achieved nothing in the end. Let’s do what we can.
Q: But all this is creating much confusion amongst the people. What do you have to say in this regard?
A. The people don’t need a new Constitution. They need economic development. Only a certain group need a new Constitution. If the Executive is not being used in an authoritarian manner, people do not care what Constitution we have. What people want is the country to develop economically and we need to deliver on that.
We have stopped the misuse of power by the Executive. What remains is to provide a solution to the North and East. One of their main demands is land. The NCSL has proposed that a land commission be set up with representatives from the North, East, Forest Department, Archaeology Department, Agriculture sector and so on, and they should decide on land allocation. The government should give the land back to the people. Today even in the North and East, many lands belong to the elites who live abroad. So the government should immediately give back all their lands.
Q: What about the issue of power devolution?
A. Why do we need power devolution? We need to give the power to the people not to the politicians. When we solve the land issue, we won’t have an issue.
Q: You seem to be trying to evade a political solution through the issue of land allocation?
A. That is the political solution. The economic solution is the political solution. What people need is land, farmers need land. When we give them land, the problem should be over. Why are we against that? The President can easily get all those who want land in the North and East together and through a transparent process, give out the land. Thereafter, we move towards a development plan; build them the tanks and supply them with water; then they can earn a livelihood.
Q: Do you think parties like the TNA will accept this plan?
A. We should not look at what the TNA wants; we need to look at what the people want. If we solve the people's problems, there will not be much demand for the TNA.
When it comes to police powers, we said that the police most of the time engages in civil duties. So we need to split the police into two sections;, the civil police and armed police, which investigate large scale crime and drugs and so on. We can devolve the powers of the civil police to the provinces and have the armed police come under the central government. We can let the people of the area join the police and the army. It is natural that the people want those they are familiar with to serve them. We need to change the structure of the police.
Q: Isn’t this similar to the 13th Amendment which you were against?
A. No, the 13th Amendment asks to devolve the powers of the whole police force to the provinces. We cannot do that. If a crime occurs in Vavuniya, the suspect of that crime easily escapes by residing in another province. We cannot let that happen. We cannot devolve that power. So the Central government should keep the powers of the armed police and they can let the provinces control the civil police. We can even have them wear white uniforms. Why can’t we do that? That is not a problem.
We need to change the face of the police; at present, all they want to do is to imprison someone. We need to reduce the number of court cases and to reduce the number of people who go to prison, so we need the police to resolve issues in a better way.
Q: Your model is similar to community policing. Is that so?
A. Yes. We need to make a more people oriented police.
Q: It seems that you are proposing to solve all other issues without actually granting what the minorities want, power devolution. Is not that so?
A. How can we devolve power? If we give land powers to the provinces, each will act according to their own whims and fancies. For example, some short-sighted politician in Nuwara Eliya would ask a forest to be cleared and then the rest of the country would not have water. Sri Lanka is a very small country. The Central Government should control forests.
Q: That could be said to a politician from the Central Government too. There is no way to stop him/her from doing the same. Is there?
A. That is why we need the National Planning Commission. This Commission will have the TNA, JVP, SLFP, UNP, moderates, environmentalists and many other representatives. And they together will formulate a central plans acceptable for all. Those policies should be implemented. Not what the Central, Southern, Northern, or Eastern Chief ministers want. In this small country, the land policy should be national.
Q: This is not what the media reported recently on your stand on police and land powers. Is not that so?
A. I was very clear in my stand. The media misreported my speech. In Costa Rica, there is no army. We also need a country where there is less army and police personnel.
Q: Your thinking has changed quite a bit; the military was something you were always in favour of. What is your view?
A. When we need the army, we can increase numbers. I am not asking to disband or reduce numbers in the army. We can use them for other mega projects;, right now they are being used to build tanks in the East and that is good.
Q: Isn’t this similar to what the previous regime did and you opposed such programmes then. Did not you?
A. I don’t mean menial tasks like cleaning parks and streets. I mean projects that are of national importance like building tanks, mega construction and so on. We even used the army to help make organic fertiliser. We have a large, trained man power just wasting away there; they need to be utilised better. We need to stop thinking traditionally here. We need to first help people think differently. Right now, our society has no new thinking. That is our biggest problem.
Q: Whichever campaign you have supported or headed became successful. Be it the campaign you led in support of the war from Mavil Aru or the one to bring President Maithripala Sirisena into power. What is the secret behind your success?
A. I am always working on something and when the time comes, I make the decision that needs to be made. I made the decision not to support former President Rajapaksa without much fear because it had to be made. It was a dangerous decision but I made it.
People have faith in you when they see you make fearless decisions. I am not afraid of death and when you have that feeling, it gives you a lot of freedom. Many people are afraid of death and that is the problem in our country. A few brave people can achieve great things here. I have no children, property or interests to hold me back; it is a discipline I have gained from Buddhism. I have no problem in giving everything up.
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