Focus on having more women in politics, says Dr. Perera

• Only female presidential candidate thanks her voters 
• Says reforms needed to make elections more equitable 
• Pledges to continue working for poor
• Keen to support more women to contest at Parliamentary Polls

By Shanika Sriyananda 

Presidential candidate Dr. Ajantha Perera, the first female aspirant to contest in a Presidential Election after 20 years, said the process of elections needed to be improved to have a truly equitable process and expressed hope of more women contesting the upcoming Parliamentary Polls. 

“Media coverage should have been equal to everybody and there are many ways to improve the election process in the forthcoming Parliamentary Elections to get the desired outcome from a democratic process,” she said.

Assuring continuous support for the people in under-developed districts like Monaragala, Dr. Perera said in future, her task will be helping to maintain democracy and educate voters to form a better electoral system.

She claimed that most people avoid contesting at elections due to high cost involved in the campaigning process and she would like to become a role model for them to know how a candidate could run for elections on a low budget.

“I also want to set an example for more women to get into politics and I hope many women will contest at the forthcoming Parliamentary Elections. Another important point I want to highlight is that people who want to contest need to have a decent track record and should not criticise other contestants,” she said adding that she has never criticised another candidate throughout her campaign as she wanted to maintain her dignity after the elections.

Dr. Perera said she encouraged more people who loved the country and wanted to serve the people to contest as independent candidates with no political affiliations and also representing different ethnic groups.

Referring to the final results of the Presidential Elections 2019, she said people had chosen the leader democratically and in the future they had to stand by for whom they had voted with no complaints as they had made the choice.

“The most important thing is that Sri Lanka needs to progress and move forward economically without depending so much on outside forces. The country needs to have its own industries to boost the economy so everyone has a fair share of the economy, which will help them to have better lives,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Dr. Perera said she was touched by the people who voted for her as most of them were from the districts where there were issues – economically and socially – to be addressed. 

“I will definitely help people in areas like Monaragala to upgrade their lives, in future,” she said thanking her voters.