Milinda Moragoda in Borella
So, the Colombo Mayor’s race is on. I’m supporting Milinda Moragoda. Why? Because he’s highly intelligent and actually ethical. He’s also got a good plan for developing Colombo – since he’s now in the SLFP – he can work with the government and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa to make it happen. Let’s unpack this.
Smart And Decent
Milinda is a rarity in Sri Lanka – a widely read, travelled and educated politician with wide connections on the ground. He also takes pains to be a generally decent and compassionate human being. He is one of the few politicians to not use banners or posters during campaigns at all and he prefers to talk to small groups rather than give big speeches. This borders on politically suicidal, but it is actual ethics.
Loyal?
The glaring flaw in his character, however, would be loyalty to the party. After years in the United National Party, he crossed over to the government in 2007. This pissed a lot of people off, including me. He paid a price for this in that he lost his seat at the last Parliamentary election.
Time, however, has shown that he didn’t have much choice, as Ranil still maintains a stranglehold on the UNP, making it an ineffective force for changing peoples lives. Milinda actually did have success as a government Minister, notably in the Justice Department, actually documenting and beginning to work on the huge backlog, a lot of which was found to be cases of child abuse.
The broader issue for many people is how could he work with the Rajapaksas, bete noires of many Colombo liberals. I guess that’s a good question. For me, I think that Mahinda is actually doing a decent job with severe excesses. His brother Gotabaya, I think, is doing an excellent job developing Colombo – taking down walls, beautifying the city, etc. My only complaint is that Colombo is becoming a bit of a highway for people from the suburbs to get in and out, a concern that Milinda’s manifesto says he will address.
So, for me, I guess I can live with the crossing over. The UNP is completely messed up and it’s a politician’s job to serve people, not the party. Some people can’t live with this, but I’d encourage you to read Milinda’s manifesto and think about it.
Effective
Colombo is effectively run by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Secretary Of Defense and President’s brother. This sounds draconian, but he’s actually been doing pretty well. He’s taken down a lot of walls, revealing that Colombo has architecture. He’s also created green spaces – most notably around Independence Square – and even made sidewalks. Cops actually help with traffic and the city has visibly gotten a lot lot better.
This power structure came because the Colombo Municipal Council got completely messed up, being run by a trishaw driver for years in an election fluke. The UNP didn’t file papers properly and asked to contest under this guy’s symbol. When that symbol won, the guy simply refused to give up the post. I think he’s the driver for the Ambassador to South Korea now. Anyways.
Milinda promises to be an actual, effective Mayor, which would be cool. He’s also connected to Gotabaya, which makes it possible. Frederica Jansz’s comments on this subject are worth reading, The Leader is perhaps the arch-enemy of Gota, but even she endorses Milinda in her own way.
So
I like Colombo but it’s long been ranked a not very livable city. Even changes going on now tend to privilege cars and commuters rather than people that live and work in the city. And Colombo really could be awesome. It’s already one of the best cities in India (that’s a joke, but true if you think about it).
So, yeah, I support Milinda. My dad is working with him on policy and I’m working with him on social media and stuff. Most notably on his Facebook page (which he actually comments on himself) and the site ourcmb.com, an interactive document that lets you comment on individual paragraphs in his manifesto.
Indi,
I was happy to read this post. I always considered you a UNP’er, one who would have green blood. But it’s good to see, that you are not like a lot of UNP’ers who just refuse to accept any good that Rajapakse’s do, simply going by party colors.
I am not a card carrying member of any political party. When it comes to elections, I prefer to vote in the best interest of the country (isn’t that how democracy is supposed to work?). And in my personal analysis, Rajapakse’s is the best bet we’ve got. I cant see how Ranil or SF, will be any better.
A lot of people will not agree with Gota on what he does. But is probably the best thing that has happened to this country, in terms of facelifting the city of colombo.
-Sampath
And the price from Sunday Leader is am amazing turn around of their stance.
Indi has well demonstrated his lack of knowledge on contemporary Sri Lankan political history, pity you
I feel a little uneasy about Moragoda. I think it’s because I remeber him avidly promoting the US and saying they should be the global hegemon or somethng to that effect, when he was with Ranil. Didn’t he also have something to do with a failed finance company and some issues with COPE?
Happy about his ethical campaign. I suppose there’s no such thing as a lily white politician, and if he can clean up the city a lot could be forgiven. Anyway, I dont vote on this, so it’s not my dilemma.
The backlog of cases is a shame, and it’s really sad that a helpless group like abused children, are the ones who are suffering most as a result.
In a weird way things have come a full circle. Here you have someone actually with professional pedigree running on the SLFP ticket while the UNP is playing the race card. In a weird way this is the only way for the SLFP and the only way for the UNP.
But Milinda has proved a man of questionable character, it’s crunch time that defines people with principle, and he’s proved he’s not, despite his ability as a policy maker and perhaps an administrator. This is the guy who defined the UNP economic policy for the 2002 government and one of the faces of the peace process, then to turn around and sleep with the Rajapakses was low, and clearly goes against the ‘gentlemen politician’ image he tried to portray and had many of us fooled. For this reason I won’t vote for him and I hope he pays the price for becoming a hypocrite.
A big issue in this election is regime change, although there’s no credible opposition to take advantage of such a tidal wave, which can very easily happen.
isn’t there some connection between moragoda and some american senator or congressman
Sri Lankans Back Their Leadership Amid Western Criticism
More than 9 in 10 Sri Lankans surveyed in April 2011 say they approve of Rajapaksa’s job performance, as they have since the civil war ended in 2009…Sri Lankans’ approval of their president’s job performance likely reflects their happiness to finally have peace in their country and a vision for the rebuilding of their nation.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/149306/sri-lankans-back-leadership-amid-western-criticism.aspx
Oh, yes. The connection was held in much awe too, as if Moragoda could summon the fifth fleet with but a wave of his hand.
LOL Shammi… you’re getting more sarcastic these days…
Moragoda seems like a great candidate. But Moulana is a gentleman as well. I would tend to support Moragoda but mainly because the UNP is just a sinking ship with poor leadership, and good things are happening in Colombo under Gotabhaya. I just hope that there isn’t going to be any silly ethnic “I’ll vote for this person because he is Sinhalese/Muslims” crap and people will actually make their decisions on each candidate’s policies/manifesto.
On a side note, this this just goes to show that the Muslim community in Sri Lanka is certainly a LOT more politically integrated into the larger Sri Lankan community than the Tamils.
can i run for mayor as well.
“dodo for colombo” has a nice ring to it.
I try everything to get Dodo’s attention.
What would be your platform?
none so far, but that doesn’t put me far behind the other candidates, and possibly ahead of a few.
menna me denna pora kanawoooo!!
Indi, while many people are never either good or bad, your portrayal of Mlinda as someone whose mainly good, is I think to say the least misguiding the public.
Let’s start with Mr. Moragoda’s track record. There have been a lot of serious allegations but responses have not been forthcoming. Mr. Moragoda has been marketed very well as Mr. Clean but can you please remind me on what basis this perception has been arrived at? COPE reports have been submitted to Parliament (investigation done by the government) which has Mr. Moragoda caught up in large scale corruption (I can’t remember the exact figures but a simple google search will give you a whole heap of information). Deals that he has been involved in have been overturned by the Supreme Court (Insurance Corporation, Lanka Marine) but no response from Mr. Moragoda. Billions of rupees have been borrowed by Mr. Moragoda’s company, Mercantile Credit without repayment; no response from Mr. Moragoda. Milinda’s exploits have not only been covered by the Sri Lankan media, it has been covered by many international organizations as well.
In regards to the paper article you talk about, Frederica states that the Defence Secretary would pull the plug from his project to transform the city into a Metropolis. This not only undermines the Defence Secretary, insinuating that he is an individual who is not capable of working across party lines for the betterment of the nation but also creates an undue fear psychosis amongst the voters. There are a plethora of events occurring across the island that people are worrying about. Creating non-existing issues with no basis is not the need of the hour and is certainly not in the best interest of the country. I may not see eye to eye with the Defence Secretary on many issues, but even I find it hard to believe that he will try to sabotage the development of Colombo; simply because he is not capable of working across party lines. On the contrary, if the Defence Secretary is as petty minded and trivial as the article suggests, it is a precise reason as to why people with this mentality should not be holding positions of power and should be routed.
If you ask me Indi, Milinda is no different than any of the other politicians we have. He just speaks better English, and that’s NOT a reason for me to vote for him.
He has responded to at least some of those allegations in this Parliament speech.
What Frederica was saying was that the Defence Secretary would pull the plug if the UNP was elected. I don’t agree that this is true, but Milinda is capable of working quite closely with the SecDef who is doing a pretty good job. I think Milinda would curb some of his accesses and bring the next stage under civilian control.
I think Milinda is different. He’s quite intelligent, can engage on a variety of issues ranging from history to technology and back. I’ve met some other politicians and there’s much more than speaking English. He’s actually a decent and smart guy that tries to get stuff done. I certainly don’t think he’s a saint, but he’s by far the best option on the ballot.
The second COPE report had one line: “Steering committee to handle the sale of 90% shares of SLIC has been appointed on
21.01.2002 by the Hon. Minister Milinda Moragoda without a Cabinet approval.”
That is not a big deal. Recall the context. Sri Lanka had for the first time experienced negative growth in 2001. This was January 2002. The government was anxious to complete economic reforms including privatizations quickly to get the economy moving.
In any case, COPE allegations have to be investigated and prosecuted. They are not, by themselves, final judgments. COPE is a creature of the legislature, not a judicial body.
The Lanka Marine Services transaction was impugned by then CJ Sarath Silva in one of the most questionable decisions in Sri Lankan history. As I documented in an article published in the Financial Times of November 27, 2008 (while he was still CJ), a bench headed by the then Chief Justice Silva decided on July 21, 2008 (CS/FR 209/2007, the principal LMS decision) a matter pertaining to a tax exemption that only came up for argument on November 27, 2008 before a different bench. No mistakes; no typos. Decision given four months prior to the case coming up for hearing.
These are not reasons enough to malign a good man.
Indi your assessment on the man is very poor. Clearly your vision is tainted by rose tinted glasses. Wish you and your father luck.
Smart and Decent:
Great image to portray! Advertising Companies dream of such stuff except you got nothing to back it up with. Betrayed the UNPers by crossing over and this is deceit on every count. Claims not to have a slogan. ‘If I am elected let it be through by program for Colombo’ sounds like a slogan to me.
Never into Big speeches; addressing thousands in Temple Trees is known as a small gathering is it? Mind you at state expense.
Abusing state media that should give candidate equal air time? If the man was such a decent Man he should step out and ask for equal air time to be given to all parties that are contesting. What about his court cases where companies he was involved in owes SLR 3,700 Million. Shouldn’t a decent man clear himself of these cases before standing for public office. I guess it does not matter when you have the patronage of the Rajapakse’s.
We have the Crown Prince then threatening the people of Colombo to vote for the decent man. In the same sentence a threat is used to the people of Colombo ‘ that if they don’t vote for the Govt that they will be evicted’. The Rajapaklses are so intoxicated with power that there is no consideration of democratic norms. As a decent man would you sit on same stage where such abuse is taking place?
All this including the current campaign Highlights the man you are backing as a man; ‘hiding under a veil of Ideals’.
Loyal:
This you have identified correctly that he is not loyal. He crossed over to support the government. He could have supported the government being in opposition. A decent man would have stayed in the opposition and decided to support the government where necessary. Furthermore if he is a man of such ideals he should have found the strength to stay within the UNP and fight the leadership. It points to the fact that he is a weak character. All this is very clear to the electorate. It’s a shame that a man of your understanding of politics has failed to pick these matters.
The services he has done as a Minister, clearing Backlog! You must be joking! Come on think of something more in depth. What Colombo needs is practical solutions that will help the citizens not a set of Ideals.
He has deceived the electorate in the past, and will do so again in the future if given a chance. In this instance he is being used as a puppet by the Rajapakses.
Effective:
So Gothabaya is effective at taking down walls and beautifying Colombo. If you think this is beauty you are blind. Go and see how the majority of Colombo live in low Income settlements. Not a single Lavatory has been upgraded whilst the beautification of Independence Avenue was taking place. A single lavatory is used by over 100 people. Get your backside off that comfy seat and visit these settlements. There is more of an urgent need to deal with their very basic needs. A lavatory, access to pipe borne water, basic health care, night lights for the neighbourhood garden….. Its great that Colombo is visibly looking better but you can’t isolate the majority of people that live in Colombo.
The UDA under the Defence Ministry has also been very effective in bulldozing low income settlements that people have been living in for decades overnight. The same lands have then been sold to foreign companies with no transparency at even quicker pace. This is a complete violation of Human Rights. These people have deeds even if they were squatters for such a length of time they would still have rights. How can such a decent man then be supportive of such a repressive regime?
Fredrica Janz has been sighted of the Sunday Leader. This was a great paper during the time of Lasantha. This paper is broke and is now under the Rajapakse control. So yes Fredrica will write what she has to in order to keep her newspaper functioning. Have a read of this article. Its by an unbiased writer and rethink your strategy. http://transcurrents.com/news-views/archives/3923
So:
The duplicity is obvious at all levels. You can support who you like and you can keep blogging away. Ultimately its not going to be the deciding factor. 85% of the people that actually go to vote even in Colombo don’t have access to the internet. Its still very sad to see such educated visionaries be misguided. Get your hands dirty and go down to the grassroots and observe the sentiment. You may then be in a position to see more clearly.
Best wishes LR
Conservation?
ha ha, good one.
The real reason was that it was rumoured that promoting milinda (who has extensive connections which are said to extend even to the white house) would be useful to get into the good books of america during these times when the government is having a troubled time due to the eelamist’s agitating about war crimes etc.