The Western Provinces former Chief Minister Reginald Cooray is hopeful of another term despite his shaky position. Excerpts from an interview with him:
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| Reginald Cooray |
Q: You were the Chief Minister of the WP for the past few years. Are you hopeful of becoming the CM again?
A: Yes. There is nothing wrong with having high expectations.
Q: Most of the UPFA candidates are using the war victories to win the support of voters? Are you one of them?
A: What is the use of politicians who don’t talk about the war? Isn’t it the main item on the political agenda in this country today? The forward or backward march of our country will be decided by the war. So if we don’t speak of the war, who will? The military must talk about it but it does not usually do that. So we as the political leaders have to talk about it. If we can talk about the war losses, what is wrong about talking of the war victories?
Q: The opposition is alleging that government candidates are trying to exploit war victories for their political advantage?
A: When there are losses in the battle front, doesn’t the opposition try to take advantage of the situation? If there are any setbacks, doesn’t the opposition exploit it? For example, if the two LTTE aircraft that launched the latest attacks on Colombo got away, what kind of criticism would the government have had to take from the opposition? Politics is about keeping abreast with current affairs and now the war is the most-talked-about issue. So it must be talked about.
Q: What about issues like the cost of living? They impact the lives of voters?
A: Yes it impacts them but then why aren’t they talking about it and instead bearing it in silence. That is because people are willing to make sacrifices as we are all heading towards a common goal. To achieve that goal the people are willing to put up with hardships.
Q: There were allegations of corruption levelled at you when you were the CM.
A: It was the same opposition that levelled allegations gave an affidavit saying they have confidence in me and kept me in office for five years. They approved five of my budgets in the council. If they had a problem, they should have removed me.
Q: Is the UPFA sure of victory in the Kalutara district?
A: Yes, we will have an overwhelming victory in the district and I too will win with a record number of preferences. |
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