MP Harsha De Silva
Harsha talking, photo by LIRNEasia
Harsha De Silva is my friend. Not in the sense that he’s a guy I know around Colombo, but in the sense that he’ll always share his Coke with me and he’s bailed me out of more trouble than you can imagine. He’s also a damn good friend to a lot of people. I know a (Tamil) programmer who got arrested under Emergency Law and was locked up for months. From day one Harsha was on his falling-apart rubber band phone finding out where the guy was and helping the frantic family out. Which is the kinda guy he is. More than his professional and economic qualifications, that’s why I’m really proud that he’s a National List MP.
He’s also there because he’s loyal to the UNP and Ranil, which I’m not so agreed with, but it is what it is. We need more intelligent and decent people in Parliament, so it’s good that he’s there. I should note that he’s a family friend and my father has a more detailed professional-level shout-out on his blog. I know him more on a personal level. I remember live-blogging this conference and he came up grinning cause he thought it was cool. I found out later that he’s a serious person, but he never acts like that.
He’s curious and interested in stuff, and he cares about people. He’s also a Ph.D in Econ and brought Nielsen polling to Sri Lanka, but the character stuff is what I remember. And his wife makes a pretty good crab curry. So, uh, I think he’s a good choice for National List. NL, if you’re unfamiliar, is a list of people appointed to Parliament, like an Upper House. Ostensibly so professionals and non-politico types can contribute, though it has also been a refuge for rogues. But Harsha’s not a rogue, he’s a decent man of some talents. Which is something the country needs. So congrats.
Good guy. Hope he’ll do something good….like in education reform
The UNP is a party of has-beens now. No one really gives a shit about them.
I’ve seen him conduct a couple of interview on TV he seems quite intelligent. So he should be a good MP
I don’t really know him, but I’ve interviewed him a couple of times and he’s always been easy and cool, chatting about art and whatever else catches our interest before the cameras start rolling. Great guy and really deserving of the position. Congratulations to him.
man with no roots or a sense of belonging , just a parrot of western economic thinking without any ideology.
…”a parrot of western economic thinking without any ideology”.
That explains.
Anyways, Western economic thinking is not what it is advertised to be.
I didn’t know there was a non-western economic thinking, or even something remotely called western economic thinking.
You might be right about the words used. However economic planning that works in countries like USA or UK have unacknowledged biases that make them less effective in countries like Sri Lanka.
I think the the way the English economy is planned will work fine in Sri Lanka. It’s the bullshit reganomics of pre-Clinton era that should be avoided.
Not sure about this. There’s no doubt he’s qualified but I think he was more valuable to the UNP as propagandist.
“he’ll always share his Coke with me”
Didn’t think he was the sort that snorted cocaine, but looks can be deceiving.
thanks indi. i can never satisfy everyone; nor will i try. but i will do the best i can as an opposition MP to fight for [at least] the economic rights of most people. cheers! harsha
Being in the UNP your efforts will sadly amount to nothing.
“economic rights”
That is an interesting term. I’m curious about what you mean by this?
Dear Harsha,
You don’t have to please everyone, but of course, you should try to be more than just an ‘opposition MP’ from UNP.
You have the talent, so don’t be a slave to party politics.
As you already know, it is too far easy to oppose. Much harder to actually do something.