Interview with Roshan Ranasinghe:

… vows to mobilise masses to oust corrupt govt. leaders

by Saman Indrajith

Roshan Ranasinghe needs no introduction. As the Minister of Sports, he plucked up the courage to take on the politically-backed powerful cricket Mafia with international links, only to be hounded out of his ministerial post. The dark forces responsible for his ouster from the Cabinet may have thought they would be able to silence him, but he has proved that he is made of sterner stuff. He has emerged stronger, and is working hard to mobilise the public against the corrupt government leaders and their cronies.

Ranasinghe has launched an anti-corruption movement with a political goal—the Stop Corruption, Build Motherland (SCBM) alliance––and invited all those who want Sri Lanka to be rid of corruption to sink their political differences and join forces to achieve national progress.

What made Ranasinghe to pit himself against the cricket Mafia and what are his future plans? The Island met him recently. Excerpts of our freewheeling interview with him:

Q: Tell us about your background?

I am Ranasinghe Arachchige Roshan Anuruddha. My father’s family, hailing from the South, settled down in Nugawela, Kandy. My paternal grandfather had a home in Harispaththuwa and my paternal grandmother was from Kumbukgete, Kurunegala. My father was the only child in his family. My mother’s father was from Weligama. As such, I have roots in four districts!

Both my maternal and paternal families were staunch UNP supporters. They backed D. S. Senanayake and his vision. My father was close to the late Mr. Gamini Dissanayake. As a result of his politics, we lost our house. My mother had the courage to start life anew from scratch. She worked hard to improve our situation. My sister became a doctor and my two brothers took to accountancy. As soon as I completed my GCE A/L, I wanted to go to Japan.

My brothers were in France at that time. They advised me to visit them first and obtain a resident visa there. In France, I pursued my education, but I couldn’t complete it because I was determined to fulfill my dream of going to Japan. Initially, I went to Japan with a tourist visa. I travelled to many places in Japan and observed the situation in each place. Later, I went to Japan again on a student visa, and studied and worked part-time. I obtained a Diploma in Business Administration and Automobiles. I believe I learned more from Japanese society than from the theories taught in class. That education has served me well in my career as a businessman in several countries and also stood me in good stead in my political activities.

In 1996, my mother passed away, at the age of 49. I was 20 at the time, and her death was a great loss to me. After some time, I met a Sri Lankan girl in Japan. Our friendship developed into a relationship, and she is now my wife. We got married in 1999. Her name is Prashanthi Dinusha Ranasinghe, and she is a lawyer. She has been my strongest support, helping me build my businesses and supporting me in my political endeavours. I have attended four schools: Rajangana Maha Vidyalaya because our businesses were in Rajanganaya, Vidyartha College Kandy, Thambuttegama Central College, and Polonnaruwa Royal College.

Q: What kind of business are you engaged in?

I established my businesses in Japan, the UK, Mozambique, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. In these five countries, I import and sell vehicles, automobile spare parts, and high-end wrist-watches.

Q: When did you take to active politics?

I began my political career in 2009 after receiving invitations from both Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mahinda Rajapaksa. Upon receiving Wickremesinghe’s invitation, I expressed my willingness to contest from Polonnaruwa. He assured me of that opportunity. Later, I received another invitation from Mahinda Rajapaksa. I informed him that I had already given my word to Wickremesinghe and would contest from Polonnaruwa.

Subsequently, Wickremesinghe informed me that Earl Gunasekera did not want me to contest from Polonnaruwa and suggested I contest from Laggala instead. I insisted that I be allowed to contest from Polonnaruwa, and informed Wickremesinghe of Rajapaksa’s offer to contest under the UPFA ticket from the same district. Wickremesinghe wished me good luck, and I joined the UPFA as a district organizer for Polonnaruwa. Other candidates in the same team were electoral organizers who had already secured 40,000 preferential votes, while I had none. Some encouraged me, while others discouraged me.

I was elected with the highest number of preferential votes in the district. Maithripala Sirisena was the district leader, and I respected his leadership while focusing on my responsibilities. Over the next three years, I received no assistance from the party to develop the district. Basil Rajapaksa informed me that he couldn’t allocate funds due to opposition from Maithripala Sirisena. But with the assistance of well-wishers and friends, I did everything possible to serve the people of Polonnaruwa. We constructed roads, generated employment opportunities for the unemployed, and introduced technology to Polonnaruwa.

Q: What made the relationship between you and Maithripala Sirisena turn sour?

When Maithripala Sirisena left the SLFP, he carried with him all the grassroots organizations of the party in Polonnaruwa. Siripala Gamlath and Chandrasiri Sooriyiarachchi remained silent. I was tasked with organizing the presidential campaign in the Polonnaruwa District, which presented one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced as a district leader. I was pitted against heavyweight Maithripala Sirisena in that district. However, I enabled the party to perform better in Polonnaruwa than in the Hambantota District. Rajapaksa, as the presidential candidate, secured over 70 percent of the total district votes in his home district, Hambantota, but due to our efforts, Sirisena could poll only 55% of the votes in his home district, Polonnaruwa.

After his victory, Sirisena invited me for talks and had others file a case against me in the High Court of Polonnaruwa, accusing me of attempted murder. As the case is pending, I won’t discuss it further.

During our talks, Sirisena asked whether I would join him and go to heaven or remained loyal to Mahinda Rajapaksa and go to hell. He suggested that if I joined him, the case against me would be dropped, and he would instruct all grassroots party leaders to work with me. However, I told him that there were policy differences that prevented me from joining him.

In the 2018 local government elections, I was put in charge of the SLPP’s Polonnaruwa District campaign. It pitted myself against President Sirisena. Despite his executive powers and support from the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the people voted for us. We defeated both the UNP and the SLFP.

Q: Don’t you think the Rajapaksas used you and let you down?

I have remained undefeated in elections, and after the SLPP’s victory at the 2020 general election, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to Polonnaruwa and said that I would be given a Cabinet portfolio so that I could launch some development projects in the district. However, I was given a State Minister post. I was tasked with helping young entrepreneurs. While I was progressing in that project, I was shifted to the Provincial Councils and Local Government State Ministry.

During the pandemic, I worked with all 330 councils. When the farmers’ crisis came up, I was appointed Mahaweli State Minister. Likewise, I was given three different state ministries within that short period of time. When the fertiliser crisis cropped up, I resigned not only from the ministerial posts but also from the Pohottuwa District leadership. Thereafter, I remained an independent MP. We witnessed massive opposition against those who remained in ministerial posts of the Pohottuwa government.

Then came the Aragalaya protests. President Wickremesinghe invited me to accept responsibilities to work with him and offered four powerful ministries – Sports, Youth Affairs, Mahaweli, and Irrigation. None of those ministries had funds at the time I accepted them. I had been handling the affairs of these ministries successfully when I was shown the door for trying to rid cricket administration of corruption.

Q: Some sports bodies faced bans under your watch. Why?

Rugby was already facing a ban when I assumed duties as the Sports Minister. There was a problem between the Rugby Chairman and the Asian Council. The latter did not recognize the former, so they banned Sri Lankan Rugby. The Chairman was adamant about staying in his post. I requested him to resign for the sake of the country because the Asian Council was ready to lift the ban if he stepped down.

I had to appoint an interim body to control the game. The Chairman then went to courts, where he later expressed his willingness to resign. With his resignation, the Asian Council lifted the ban.

Q: What about the ban on the Football Association?

The football administration is a metaphor for corruption. FIFA had been asking for reforms to the Football Association’s constitution since 2014. Their main demand was to remove football administration from the current national sports law and grant it autonomy. As their demands were not met, FIFA banned Sri Lanka.

I met FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura and explained the situation. They agreed to change their stance to allow the football governing body to operate within the framework of national sports laws. They gave us four years to implement this. They wanted us to make it mandatory for football officials to retire at the age of 70. I myself would retire from politics when I reach 65 years. We must let the youth come up.

Q: Your efforts to cleanse the cricket administration backfired. How would you look back at what happened?

Regarding cricket control, the entire nation knows the truth. The ICC ban on Sri Lanka cricket was orchestrated. It was officials who got the ban imposed, and it was they who got it lifted.

I have no problem with J. Sha. He is a citizen of another country. Sha was used as a shield by Sri Lanka Cricket officials, who were exposed for corruption by the Auditor General. He was misused. I was against it. When I assumed the office, I told those officials that I would not mind what happened in the past and they must be ready to work without any such deals hereafter. In that context, we won a one-day series against Australia, a test series against Pakistan, and we won the Asian Cup. Thereafter, those officials got close to the President, and had me ousted. Sri Lanka’s cricket has been the loser.

Q: You say you are a campaigner against corruption. We have had several Bodhisatvas recently in this country. Aren’t you playing the role of messiah against corruption to further self-interest in politics? When you joined hands with the Rajapaksas, you knew they were corrupt. How would you reconcile your battle against corruption and your association with the Rajapaksas in the past?

I never whitewashed the Rajapaksas. I had no such need. I needed to start somewhere when I decided to take to politics and at that time the Rajapaksas had popular support. Even the JVP supported Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2005. I believe they did so with good intentions, just as I did. We thought that they would do something for the country.

Q: But you continued to back the Rajapaksas even after they were exposed for corruption and various other malpractices. You did not leave them in 2015, when some SLFP stalwarts decamp. What would you say to this?

In 2015, there were some issues, such as nepotism and corruption. But we had to remain there because the alternative to the Rajapaksas was a messy alliance forged by Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. We feared that a country would be plunged into anarchy. We hoped that the Rajapaksas would mend their ways by the end of the Yahapalana government, which was responsible for the Treasury bond scams and failure to prevent the Easter Sunday terror attacks.

While we were planning to bring Gotabaya to power, nobody thought that he would promote family rule. But when we realized that we had made a mistake, we distanced ourselves from the government.

What we need is a righteous leader instead of a person who promotes family bandyism, protects corrupt officials, and indulges in corruption. We have become a bankrupt nation. We are against corruption. Talking about rebuilding this nation without putting an end to corruption is only a pipedream.

Q: You have launched a political movement to eliminate corruption. How would you describe it?

We are forming an alliance under the theme, ‘Let’s put an end to corruption to build our nation.’

There is a pressing need for a formidable force against corruption. We cannot think of a better future unless we go all out to get rid of corruption.

I will give you one example: when I assumed the Ministry of Sports, it did not have money. The country was bankrupt, and the government’s allocation barely sufficed to pay salaries. We ran the Ministry with funds from sponsorships. Nevertheless, during my tenure, this country won the highest number of international medals. Under the watch of SB Dissanayake, the country secured 58 international medals and that was the time when the Sports Ministry had enough funds. I inherited the same Ministry full of crises, and stopped corruption, and the result was really impressive; the country bagged 170 medals in international games.

This shows that when corruption is eliminated, progress follows.

Q: How do you propose to battle corruption and enlist popular support for that endeavour?

We have formed an alliance against corruption and rebuilding the nation. There are many individuals against corruption across the political spectrum, including politicians representing Parliament, as well as those outside Parliament. Anyone who is against corruption and has not engaged in any corrupt activities, can join this alliance.

We have appointed a committee to identify the corrupt, starting with the MPs. Sri Lanka Cricket officials have been exposed by the Auditor General for their corrupt deals, but there are still some MPs who unashamedly support those corrupt elements. They have direct links with the corrupt.

Under the anti-corruption committee, there will be sub-committees tasked with ascertaining the views of the public about corruption and how to battle it.We have a retired Supreme Court Judge, a retired High Court Judge, three lawyers, doctors, engineers, economists, and auditors on the steering committee. They work on a voluntary basis. I will not name them for obvious reasons.

Q: Does it mean that this committee will name the clean politicians and will label the rest as corrupt? How practical is that?

The committee will clear the names, and after that, we will extend invitations. It is up to each of those MPs with clear profiles to either join us or not.

Q: Aren’t you planning to turn the anti-corruption movement into a political force?

To eliminate corruption, we need state power, which we can achieve only by winning elections. We will have to form a party so that people against corruption can vote for it and make a contribution towards ridding the country of corruption.

There is no alternative. This country is in crisis. Our economy has collapsed. The crisis has not prevented the ruling party politicians from enriching themselves at the expense of the public. We must change this system and for that purpose we need power.

Q: The country already has about 80 political parties. Won’t the party you are planning to form end up being another name board?

The main parties are facing disintegration. The SLFP, the SLPP and the UNP are faction ridden. Sri Lankans have realized the need for a change. There is space for a new political force on a mission to eliminate corruption.

Q: Many have predicted that there would be a hung Parliament after the next general election. Supposing your party, which is to be formed, will obtain a substantial number of seats, will it join forces with one or some of the parties that you consider corrupt?

No, that will never happen. Never will we join hands with the corrupt. I believe that the existing political culture has to be changed. Even if we are in the Opposition, we must support a government when it does something right. We must do away with our traditional political approach where the Opposition is always expected to stand against whatever the government does, whether it is right or wrong.

SJB MP Imtiaz Bakeer Markar recently proposed that we allocate 25 percent of seats to young MPs. It is a good proposal, and I agreed with him. During the Sri Lanka Cricket issue, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa stood by me, and he did it for the sake of the country. We should appreciate his stance.

Q: Many youths have left the country, and some others are planning to migrate. This will adversely impact the country’s development efforts and future. What plans do your movement have to address this problem?

Most of those who are migrating are from the SME sector, which collapsed because of loans. We asked other nations to reschedule the loans we had taken. The government got local banks to reschedule the loans they had given to the government. But nothing was done to reschedule the loans obtained by the SMEs.

The government is not there to construct culverts and gutters. The government is there to protect people in crisis. Those in the SME sector spent their 24 hours thinking about how to pay back the loans. They have no time to think about how to develop their enterprises. Sri Lanka has received USD 400 million from the Asian Development Bank, USD 300 million from the World Bank, besides IMF assistance.

These funds must be utilized to develop entrepreneurs. Concessions should be given to entrepreneurs. Just because we ask, the youth would not stop leaving the country. We must unveil a plan to ensure a secure future for them. The youth are more conscious of their rights and freedoms and more averse to corruption than others. That is why they took to the streets. If we can convince them that the country will be rid of corruption and a viable programme is underway to develop the economy and improve the people’s lot, they will not leave this country. That is what we are striving to do.