Presidential candidate of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Duminda Nagamuwa asserted that his party was the only political group that wanted to change the socioeconomic conditions of the country in order to address the issues of the common man. Below are excerpts of his interview with The Sunday Morning: What made you decide to contest the presidential election? We are contesting this election because in the last 70 years, the real problems have never been addressed. Whether its farmers, fishermen, blue-collar employees, artistes, students, youth, or entrepreneurs – all these groups have seen their own unique problems worsening without any reprieve from successive governments. Our aim is to completely change the socioeconomic policies of the country, unlike the mainstream political parties who only seek to continue these non-inclusive economic policies that only benefit a handful. That is our foremost mission. How are you different from the other candidates? At present, all the other candidates seek to continue the current socioeconomic policies that have burdened and victimised the common man. For example, the farmers have been entrapped by the capitalist system of depending on multinational companies for agricultural products. Successive governments meaninglessly provide subsidies but the farmers have been enslaved by the multinational conglomerates. If you look at a blue-collar worker, their monthly income is so insufficient that they have to work 12-16 hours a day to earn enough to survive. This is a huge psychological strain and non-communicable mental illnesses among blue-collar employees are fast increasing. Even fishermen don’t have the resources or facilities to develop their trade. Those who engage in entrepreneurial work are all indebted due to the large loans they take to maintain their businesses. So it’s clear that only a handful profit from the current socioeconomic policies while the rest have to scrape and scavenge to survive. We are the only force that is prepared to and intends to change this whole system. None of the other candidates are interested in bringing about change as they’re a part of that handful that is profiting. How do you hope to battle it out against the likes of big political figures such as Sajith Premadasa or Gotabaya Rajapaksa? The question you are not asking is how they became such political figures. When Sajith Premadasa was named as the presidential candidate, there were advertisements on all the front pages of the mainstream newspapers. Each advertisement costs around Rs. 10 million. So how much money is being wasted by these two main presidential candidates? No one asks about that. No one asks about how they abuse their power with the media; how they abuse their political power. No one asks about how they manipulate the various mindsets of the masses. We all know that the Rajapaksas use racism to garner votes. They’re manipulating the minds of the common man using hate speech to inflame racism among the people. This is just so that they can get the Sinhala vote. While Gotabaya is doing that, Sajith Premadasa is exploiting peoples’ poverty to obtain votes. Premadasa is promising various things such as free houses, sewing machines, and goods to get the votes. This is how they manipulate the voters. The month before the election is heavenly because the Government gives various subsidies, tax reductions, price reductions, and other “election bundles” to please the masses. But as soon as the election is over, all that is forgotten; all trade unions will be back on the streets demanding their issues be addressed. It’s a vicious cycle that continues to benefit only a few. So we need to question not who’s popular but why these people have become popular. How do you hope to fund your campaign and would you be transparent about your funding? Yes, of course we will be transparent. We get donations from our supporters and other social groups but the main political parties get donations in the millions and they are on a completely different level when it comes to campaign financing. Many of your views and policies are the same as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). Why then haven’t the two groups united in this election? That is wrong. Our policies and that of the JVP are very different. All they have been saying for over a decade now is to change the political culture of the country and that other problems would be resolved. There are far more problems in Sri Lanka than fraud and corruption. There are social issues, environmental problems, health issues – there are so many problems but all they have been doing is chanting the same thing about changing the political culture. There is a clear difference between leftist ideologies and the JVP. The JVP is nothing more than a “good” Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). They claim they are a clean group, so people should vote for them, but they don’t bring the issues of the common man to the political stage. That is why I say there is a contrast between our FSP and the JVP. (SG)