Think beyond political alliances, address genuine grievances – Prof. Piyadasa

...failure to solve problems faced by youth unpardonable

Prof. Rohana

By Shamindra Ferdinando-April 18, 2019, 9:28 pm 

Top SLFP official Prof. Rohana Lakshman Piyasdasa, yesterday, warned of dire consequences unless political parties soon came up with tangible plans to address the grievances of the youth.

Prof. Piyadasa, a member of SLFP delegation engaged in talks with the SLPP aimed at building a consensus on a common plan ahead of forthcoming countrywide elections told The Island that political parties represented in parliament lacked plans to meet the challenge.

Former SLFP General Secretary, academic Piyadasa said that the current political system hadn’t been able to comprehend the gravity of the situation.

Kurunegala District MP Dayasiri Jayasekera succeeded Prof. Piyadasa in early January this year. Prof. Piyadasa received the appointment as SLFP General Secretary in June 2018 at the expense of Minister Duminda Dissanayake.

MP Jayasekera heads the SLFP team for talks with the SLPP.

Responding to a query, Prof. Piyadasa said that political parties would have to think beyond making coalitions to secure power at different levels of administrations-local government, provincial councils, parliamentary and presidential. Piyasdasa said that political parties whether in government or in the opposition couldn’t afford to turn a blind eye to the growing crisis.

The Professor said that political parties lacked an efficient strategy to attract the youth to the polling stations. The youth despised the current political party system meant to promote interests of various influential groups and individuals at the expense of the vast majority of people struggling to make ends meet. The youth were among the worst affected, Piyadasa said, pointing out how the failure on the part of successive governments had rapidly eroded the hopes of the young.

Prof. Piyadasa said that he made some relevant recommendations to the SLFP in that regard. The SLFP official said that Sri Lanka required a national plan to ensure those qualified for higher education at University level received that opportunity. Unfortunately, the system had pathetically failed to address that particular issue, he said.

Asked whether he acknowledged the overall deterioration of parliament, too, contributed to Sri Lanka’s woes, Prof. Piyadasa frowned on the standards of the lawmakers. A sharp drop in parliamentary standards over the years undermined the very basis of good governance and placed the country in a ruinous situation.

Responding to another query, Prof. Piyadasa said that lawmakers in the caliber of Communist Party General Secretary Dew Gunasekera explained economic realities in a lucid way. Referring to some of Gunasekera’s analysis as well as of several other experts, Prof. Piyadasa asserted that the national economy was in dire straits with no one in authority seemed interested in taking control of the situation.

Prof. Piyadasa called for a comprehensive examination of key economic factors without further delay.

Commenting on forthcoming countrywide polls, 2019 presidential and 2020 parliamentary as well as much delayed Provincial Councils, Prof. Piyadasa emphasized that political parties should present manifestos with the focus on post-war national economic development.

Sri Lanka brought the war to a successful conclusion in May 2009.

Prof. Piyadasa said that there was still a likelihood of the country going for a general election though many asserted presidential would take place as scheduled in the absence of much delayed Provincial Council polls.

The former SLFP General Secretary said there was no point in denying turmoil and growing uncertainty. Having explained the status of SLFP-SLPP talks launched recently, Prof. Piyadasa discussed their efforts to keep negotiations on track in spite of some differences of opinion.

While Jayasekera heads the SLFP delegation, SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris led the other delegation. Interestingly, MPs elected on the UPFA ticket represented both the SLFP and the SLPP.

The UPFA secured 95 seats at the last parliamentary poll in August 2015.

Prof. Piyadasa declined to reveal specific positions adopted by the two parties on crucial issues.

The two sides last met on April 10 at the Opposition Leader’s Office, Colombo.

They are at logger heads over a section of the SLFP skipping a vote on the third reading of the budget 2019 on April 05, 2019.

Prof. Piyadasa strongly defended the decision to skip the vote. The academic explained they couldn’t have achieved anything by voting against the budget. "You must realize there was absolutely no chance in defeating the budget. The UNP had the absolute backing of the TNA and an SLFP voting against the UNP could have caused problems for those UNP lawmakers who switched allegiance to the SLFP-JO combine at the onset of Oct 2018 constitutional crisis," Prof. Piyadasa said.

The SLFP also had no option but to take into consideration President Maithripala Sirisena, being a member of the cabinet, too, received his allocations through the same budget, the SLFP official said.

Asked whether there was a possibility in them calling off talks, Prof. Piyadasa said that the next round of talks was scheduled to take place on May 09. Both parties realized the pivotal importance of continuation of talks regardless of differences over some issues, Prof. Piyadasa said. Such differences, including the dispute over vote on budget 2019 shouldn’t hinder future co-operation between what he called like-minded political parties.

Prof. Piyadasa expressed confidence that they should be able to reach consensus soon on critical issues.