• Independent Presidential candidate, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka explains that only 15% of local politicos can act with wisdom & experience, but lack positions of power

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition Parliamentarian, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka entered the Presidential Election 2024 as an independent candidate. He pointed out that politicians use the poverty stricken communities to ‘catch’ their supporter base and pin them as long as possible to the party as slaves. And therefore, only when Sri Lankans escape from political slavery, will we be able to see the election of correct leaders and thus the enabling of the country to move forward, he said while speaking to The Daily Morning.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

Entering the Presidential candidacy, you removed yourself from all positions held under the SJB. Were you disappointed with the Party and its leadership?

I resigned from all posts I held in the SJB, but with gratitude I must say that those who supported my political journey in the Kelaniya Electorate are still standing by my side, trusting my vision and the journey. I have a deep respect for my supporters, because it is with their support that I got selected into the Parliament. I will fulfil my duty towards them. I dedicatedly worked to build the SJB’s foundation in Kelaniya, and in that process, I had hopes and plans – not personal, but for the betterment of the community and the Party. 

As time passed by, I was getting disappointed, especially about the Leader of the Party (Sajith Premadasa). And finally, it led to my decision to leave. And, this decision is not just based on the experience of one political Party. I have close experiences of how many political parties manoeuvred themselves in history and caused economic crises. To maintain democracy, we need to have multiple political parties. Yet, in our country, multi-party politics is maintained to the whims and fancies of narrow-minded politicians for power and their sustainability. As such, this democratic feature of multi-party politics, which should be benefiting the people, in reality, serves the power-greedy politicians. This is what establishes the corrupt political culture in this country. 

In a country like ours, where the majority of the population is struck by poverty, this corrupt political culture finds it easy to manipulate these vulnerable communities by dispersing small allowances, showcasing it as responsible work and gaining popularity. And, to many politicians, being in politics is their income generating path. Such politicians use the poverty-stricken communities to catch their supporter base and pin them as long as possible to the party as slaves. This is the democracy that is happening in Sri Lanka. 

In the past 15 years, I managed to closely associate many of these politicians. Nearly 50% of the politicians in this country are corrupt. And, there is another 35%, who are not corrupt, yet, follow no vision or perspective. They are not creative, and don’t understand the dynamics of the economy and the society – they have entered politics to become Very Important Persons (VIPs), to be a part of the elite. It's only around 15% of politicians I have seen who are worthwhile to the country – who could act with wisdom and experience, but they are not placed in powerful positions of the respective parties. Even in the SJB, there are hundreds of people attached to the Party as slaves – and this is applicable to many of the leading parties. This causes more damage to the country. The majority of those who lead the parties carry no vision to build this country to safeguard the future of the next generation. Only when Sri Lankans escape from political slavery, will we be able to see the election of correct leaders and thus the enabling of the country to move forward. People must think whether they should protect the political parties and its leaders that they are attached to as slaves or whether they give priority for decisions in favour of the future generation.

How do you see the current situation in Sri Lanka’s economic recovery? What should be followed for economic recovery and to build related strategies?

I believe that the country’s economy cannot be controlled by economists. As I have observed, all that economists have been doing is meddling with the money available in the country – they will extend their advice on where to get the loans, and how to invest, etc. Different economists have different opinions. But, most importantly, as a country, we must generate money. We need to have enough reserves of foreign exchange. For that, we need to develop our exports and on the other hand, we need to develop the tourism sector and ensure that through the income, we get enough foreign exchange. 

We have enough resources to develop tourism. Small island nations such as the Maldives, with less resources than us for tourism, have developed this sector and are attracting 100 times more tourists than us. As such, we need to ensure proper infrastructure, attractiveness, safety and discipline on the roads, beaches and other sites with tourist attractions. We need to create a conducive environment for the tourists to visit Sri Lanka. I think that for Sri Lanka, the main direction would be tourism. We have the potential to multiply the current income generated through tourism. 

And, in the current situation that Sri Lanka is facing, the Government must ensure that there is enough food to feed the people. For that, numerous sectors such as agriculture, livestock, and trade must be developed. It would need Government sponsorship. Parallel to these, education, health and public transport sectors must be developed. If we put these things in line, this country would be good enough for present and future generations to live in. This is a simple but practical plan. 

What is your stance on the agreement that the Sri Lankan Government is on with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for debt restructuring?

We have no option. What we are getting through the IMF agreement is a relief assistance. We cannot deviate or meddle with it now. If one wants to meddle with the present arrangement, in the given circumstances that the country is facing, no one can do contrasting changes to the IMF conditions that have been put forward. The IMF will not dance to our tune. We will have to follow the conditions. But, we cannot live on that. Plus, the Government must focus on income-generating avenues for the country. The Government should have laid some foundation for economic recovery. Unfortunately, I don’t see any foundations as such. IMF assistance might not be helpful to us forever, but would definitely be a support for a certain period of time, and in that period, we need to raise our heads on our own.

The national ethnic question is getting discussed continuously and will be focused more in any election time, especially on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. How do you see the situation?

Everyone is chanting the 13th Amendment in order to get votes. By attempting to do many things, one should not create hatred among communities. Whatever we do in this regard, we need the blessings of all the people in the country. By establishing these recommendations only to the North, and with that if the people in the South get agitated, then, it is not a proper solution. These are very sensitive issues. Before all this, first we need to develop this country. If the country is developed, the people will learn to live in peace with each other. There will be reconciliation, unity and peace. When we are encountering so many issues with regard to the economy, politicians would talk to people about ethnic issues and such matters, only to get votes. First, the background of the country should be conducive enough to sort out such matters. 

How do you see State sector reforms including public enterprise privatisation and governance-related reforms?

We can continue doing reforms, but while having corruption and not having intelligent people to lead, the country will never move forward. It has been happening for the last couple of decades. The issues at the moment are not having correct leadership and the country being engulfed in corruption. These issues need to be sorted out.

You pointed out earlier the vitality of income generation to the country. As of late, tax reforms, imposing new taxes are seen as Government income generating avenues. What is your stance on taxation and tax reforms?

If the income of the people is not developed, how can the Government continue imposing taxes? How can the people pay those when they don’t earn enough? Already, people are unable to bear the cost of living, and further taxation is not right. First, there should be an increase in the income, lifestyle and living conditions of the people. When people are living like beggars, how can they pay taxes? The Government must seek avenues that develop the foreign currency reserves of the country, and ensure that the people’s living conditions are improved, and then only we can move on to add taxation to the people. 

Sri Lanka, with its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, is prone to get caught between diplomatic crises. In such a backdrop, how would you review the Sri Lankan foreign policy and our positioning with India-China relations?

We are not a superpower. We must try not to get sandwiched between the superpower struggle. Historically, we stood by the non-aligned stance. We must remain like that. If we are to align to one side, we are surely antagonising the other side. What has actually happened in the past is that certain leaders of our country, because they wanted to borrow money as much as possible, got aligned to one side. These leaders borrowed the money not for development, but to rob money for their personal use. Eventually, we ended up with this predicament today. We need to get out of this. Of course our links with India need to be very strong since they are our neighbours. We need to give priority to that and maintain a healthy relationship with the rest of the world.

Currently, the Government is in the process of a defence review, reportedly with focus on downsizing the military forces and shifting priority for maritime security. Your expertise is defence. What is your stance?

Definitely, the priority should be on the security of the land. When talking about national security, in any country, the priority should be land. Then, we move on to other security details – be it maritime or airspace security. There are stupid people sometimes, who would say, since we don’t have a conflict anymore, that we can downsize the forces. We cannot build up an Army once the war/conflict has started. That is one of the main reasons why the Eelam War dragged on for decades. We never had the correct strength in the military. The conflict would have ended somewhere around the early 1990s if we had the correct strength at the correct time. Just because economists cannot manage with the other issues, they suggest removing people from the Army. They think that cutting down the defence expenditure would sort out the issue. That is not the answer to get out of the economic issue. If we look at the Easter Sunday attacks, it happened due to the poor quality and standards maintained in terms of defence and its institutions. We definitely have to maintain those standards. If not, there would be additional crises other than the economic crisis. The defence review must be taken in the context of improving conditions, technology, and strength.

Being a standing Field Marshal of the military, are there any legal impediments for contesting as a Presidential candidate?

There are none. I’m a retired military officer. I am a Field Marshal but not in active service. There are no legal restrictions on me engaging in politics. I entered the Parliament last time while holding the Field Marshal post. I can do politics like any other citizen in this country.