Young man on the block

His entry into politics was through a strictly race-based party, but to build a ‘Sri Lankan identity’ is foremost in the mind of Deputy Tourism Minister Faizer Musthapha. It was for a cause such as this that he was willing to break ranks with the political party that paved the way for his entre into the political arena. His short stint so far in politics starting in 2004 has seen him rise from an elected MP from the Kandy District to the post of Deputy Minister in 2006 and go on to win The Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) award of Jaycees International in the field of politics for this year.

The TOYP awards honour individuals between the ages of 18 and 40 who demonstrate the best attributes of young Sri Lankans in various fields including politics, academic leadership, and contributions to arts/culture.

Ironically, Mr. Musthapha is indebted to the Leader of the plantation-based Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) Arumugan Thondaman for paving the way for his entry into politics. But then, he left the year after over a “matter of principle” he says. The split came when Mr. Musthapha objected to the issue of a Gazette on the recruitment of teachers to estate schools in which one of the requisites for prospective candidates was a credit pass in Hinduism or Christianity at the GCE O’Level exam. “This regulation would have effectively closed the door for Sinhalese and Muslims who would have wanted to apply for these teaching posts. It was contrary to my belief that the country must strive for a Sri Lankan identity and there should be no discrimination based on ethnicity,” Mr. Musthapha insists.

He intervened to have the regulations from being implemented by petitioning the Supreme Court through a student and had the regulations withdrawn on the grounds that it discriminates against non-Hindus and non-Christians.

“One of the hardest decisions of my life was to leave the CWC,” laments the young politico. He is aware that his decision has not endeared him to many in the CWC who have told him in no uncertain terms that he is “ungrateful”. After all he had been appointed the Vice President of the CWC during his brief stint in that Party much to the chagrin of several Party elders. That one solitary Gazette seemed sufficient ground to cross-over to the winning side in the November 2005 Presidential election.

Soon after the election of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the 38- year-old Attorney-at-Law extended his support to the new President while the CWC languished in the Opposition. He was aptly, if not amply rewarded with a Deputy Ministership. Wasn’t his party-hopping more to do with perks and position than principle would be a legitimate question to ask him given the credo of the modern-day politician. Mr. Musthapha says he is “different” from many others who do so for personal gain. “I extended my support to the President because I wanted to strengthen the government but I did it unconditionally without asking for any perk or position. The President is the one who offered me the post of a Deputy Minister.”

Since joining the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) earlier this year, Mr. Musthapha has been appointed the Party’s organiser for Harispattuwa (North), the Akurana constituency that has its fair share of Muslim voters. He has also been appointed to the SLFP’s Central Committee.

He believes he has won the confidence of his Minister as well. It was Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda who nominated him for the TOYP award (TOYP Awards must be applied for now, unlike in the past when nominees were picked solely by a panel of judges). “I think in many instances, Ministers and their Deputies don’t have a close working relationship but my nomination by my Minister has shown that he has confidence in me,” he says with pride.

The Minister has also entrusted him with tapping the lucrative West Asian (Middle East) market for Sri Lanka. “While our traditional tourist markets have declined in the past year, the West Asian market has grown by 20 per cent,” he claims. And it is for this same ‘market’ that he overlooks a training programme conducted by the Tourism Ministry to train 75,000 local youth for employment in the fast expanding hotel industry in these countries.

It is the youth of the country that the young Deputy Minister wants to concentrate on and money from his decentralized budget as a Member of Parliament goes into education programmes for the youth in the Kandy district. At least 1,000 youth have been taught English, computer studies and sewing in several training centres that are financed from his budget.

He is a firm believer that President Mahinda Rajapaksa is the man to take the country forward and build a ‘Sri Lanka identity’. The President, he says, has been able to bring together the most diverse groups under one government. “Who else could have been able to get (Minister) Douglas Devananda and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) to sit on the same side in Parliament,” he asks.

What are the bright-eyed bespectacled young politician’s ambitions for the future? “I am very ambitious” he says with candour but quickly adds, “for my country and for the youth of this country. They must be able to live in a country minus ethnic divisions.”

He is also an optimist to the core. “As politicians we should be optimistic and realise what is important is how the country is run and not who runs the country.”