Anusha David spotlights the hottest styles and statements in and around Sri Lanka – from political leaders to celebrity CEOs, masters of the game to fashion icons and stars of the silver screen and stage. Here are society’s leaders talking about the determination, vision, smarts, competence and professionalism. Today, she speaks to Malsha Kumaratunge.

The vivacious Malsha Kumaranatunge, the niece of the late Vijay Kumaranatunge and daughter of Jeevan and Shereen, is a strong advocate of young people being a part of the local political arena. An old girl of Wycherley International School, she thereafter proceeded to the University of Reading where she obtained her LLB (Hons) UK. She is currently a Provincial Councillor for the Western Province.

In your opinion, who are the most impressive and inspiring political leaders in Sri Lanka?

Vijaya - his commitment to people of all ethnicities. People are still in awe of him and speak so fondly of him. I want to know his secret.

Who are your heroes?

Certainly Madam Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge. She is truly an inspiration for many out there - the hurdles that she faced - from the assassination of both her father and her husband, to becoming the Prime Minister and President of this country. She is someone who has courage, conviction and compassion. There aren't that many people out there who are willing to  forgive and negotiate a peaceful settlement with those who wanted to and tried to kill you.

How has your father guided your political career?

My father is my hero and my counsellor. However, he also lets me make my own decisions and whether they are right or wrong he stands by me. He understands that we all have to learn from our own mistakes and has remarkable patience.

Name the books that shaped your life and your politics.

The Alchemist by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. I believe there is a Sinhala and Tamil translation out there;  it is a must read. I have read it many times and each time I find it relevant to different stages in my life and I learn something new about myself. It is about our search for our destinies.

What are your hobbies?

Reading, definitely. I love getting lost in books.

If you should become President one day, what would be the first change you initiate and implement?

There are many issues that I am passionate about, but my main focus is gender equality and all forms of equality and non-discrimination. This country has suffered enough because we have been taught prejudice and to discriminate those different to us. A country free from prejudice and discrimination is a better country for everyone. People will then stop focusing on their differences and start focusing on their work and productivity and enjoying life with their families and communities. I will therefore take steps to improve our education system and to teach children equality and non-discrimination from their early years. Hatred and inequality is not something that is natural to us - it is something that we are taught. When you speak to little children, they don’t see the difference between girls and boys, black or white, Muslim or Buddhist. For children, we are all the same people - and that is essentially what we are. We have to reverse this teaching of segregation and inequality. Increasing incidences of gender based sexual violence against women and religious intolerance is because of our failure to teach children these values at a young age.

I will also take steps to ask parliament to enact a comprehensive Bill of Rights that guarantees equality in all forms, including equality of opportunity for the diverse people who call our country home. There is an excellent draft that has been circulating over the last few years but which is yet to be debated and passed.

Why did you decide to get involved in politics?

To be the change I want to see in the world. For too long I have felt that the Sri Lankan voters have been offered a bad deal. Politicians have constantly taken them for a ride - offered big promises which have never been delivered or hoodwinked the people to follow an ideology which was detrimental to the people. Some politicians have formed cults around themselves, turning them into demagogues rather than servants of the people. Many things frustrate me when I see how our people are treated. Today, the voters have become subservient to the politicians. It should be the other way round. Things have to change and I couldn't sit back anymore. This is why I got involved in politics. To be that change.

Where would you place yourself on the political spectrum, and how has that particular ideology influenced you?

The political spectrum is quite vast. From a social point of view I am a liberal. I believe in the rights of the individual - their rights to live their life free from state control, to pursue their own dreams and to do so without hindrance. I believe in the equality of everyone and more so on equal opportunities for everyone - whatever your religion, race, gender or orientation may be. We all have one life to live and people should focus on that life, on exploiting their maximum potential. Discrimination and prejudice only prevents people from reaching this pinnacle - and this applies not only to those are victimised by the prejudice but by the perpetrators as well. When you spend so much time hating and spreading hate against others - you have less time to nurture what is great in you.

From an economic point of view I believe in the social market. The market must ensure that people are free to pursue their own business and economic interest. The state's role should be to provide the platform for the free market and to create an equal playing field for everyone. Therefore, we must ensure that education and healthcare are essentially free so that everyone has an equal chance at prosperity. I don't believe that government's should be involved in business. Too often state enterprises have been used to rob the people instead of enriching them. Today, so many state enterprises are running billions of rupees in losses. Some even billions of dollars. This is wasted money and tax payers need to ask who is paying for these losses? There is no such thing as a free lunch. These billions instead could have been used to build better schools and hospitals, more Samurdhi benefits for those in need and social housing. Instead, these billions are going into a never ending black hole stuffed with the poor tax payers money.

Are you willing to put in the hard work and represent your constituency or are you just another pretty face put forward by the UPFA to get more votes?

I never considered myself a pretty face but thank you very much for your compliment. I have been putting in the hard work even before my election as a Provincial Councillor and I wholly intend on continuing that work should I be elected and have the noble duty to humbly serve my electorate in parliament. If you read my previous interviews or hear my speeches at campaign meetings, my message has always been the same and it has been clear. There is no nonsense and no dramatics with me. I am not the type to get on stage to scream and shout and beat my chest. I am very frank about why I am here. I am here to work and I do it with a purpose.

As a woman in politics, how do you see your life playing out vis a vis children , household duties, etc?

I still consider myself newly married and therefore right now don’t have children, although my husband and I do plan on having children in the future. This has inevitably made me the babysitter for many of my friends’ children. I have very strong maternal instincts and children tend to like me - which is good and bad in some ways! When my husband and I do decide to have children, I know that everything will be a shared duty. We are both strong proponents and believers in equality. Although many things have changed positively for women over the generations, it is unfortunate that society now expects women not only to work but also to bring up the children and manage the household. Women have become champions of multitasking - which is why they have such strength and which is why men are often afraid of strong women. I was never brought up to think that the role of women was child rearing and looking after the house while the man went out to bring food onto the table. If that was the purpose of my upbringing, then there would have been no purpose in sending me to school and to university to study law. I didn’t study hard all these years so I can hang the certificates on my wall and stare at them. My husband is an architect and I am a lawyer and now a politician. We are both professionals and we are both committed to each other, our families and the careers we have worked hard for. We share everything in life - our home, our love and our families and when we have children, we will equally share those duties too.

How does your husband feel about your political career?

My husband is my bedrock in many ways. He has always been extremely supportive of everything that I do. Likewise, I have been always extremely supportive of his career choices. We are life partners and partners are not there to bring each other down, but to appreciate each other and help each other rise together. We are always there for each other. For us, family life is very important and we make sure that we make that time.

If you should become President one day, what would be the first change you initiate and implement?

There are many issues that I am passionate about, but my main focus is gender equality and all forms of equality and non discrimination. This country has suffered enough because we have been taught prejudice and to discriminate those different to us. A country free from prejudice and discrimination is a better country for everyone.

What are the main issues facing the people in your district (Colombo)?

Colombo is the most prosperous district of our country. It is immensely diverse with people from all walks of lives, beliefs, ethnicities and backgrounds living here. It is a great district that is both ancient and modern. But it is also the most unequal and alongside the great mansions of the big cities are the shanties and poverty that line it. The poor always receive the short end of the stick and I think it's time they are given the longer end so we can all climb this ladder of success and development together. Together with poverty, citizens in this district still lack access to quality education; whereas the privileged in Colombo have access to excellent schools, the poor are often left outside, worsening the cycle of poverty and essentially placing all these people into the poverty trap. Schools are either heavily over crowded or lack facilities for students. We live in a competitive age and in order to grow we need to look outside - not just outside our towns but outside our country. For this we need to provide better access to education.

Sri Lanka ranks 140 out of 153 countries for female representation in parliament. How do you plan on increasing female representation in the future?

Me being in politics is an example to others that all women have a place in this world and especially in the decision making chambers of parliament. It is a terrible tragedy of our time that the country that gave the world it’s first woman Prime Minister and one of the first in the world to give women the right to vote - performs so abysmally in female parliamentary representation. I plan on addressing this tragedy by continuing to be a voice for the unheard women of my district and of my country. I have consistently spoken aloud on women's issues and equality throughout both my campaigns and I am only going to keep speaking louder until everyone hears my message of equality.

Do you think there are enough female candidates contesting the upcoming general election?

No - absolutely not. The numbers are a disgrace. Women make up over 52% of this country's population and yet are barely represented in the candidate list of parties. Are you surprised that this country has been mired in war, controversy, racism and ineptitude all these years? The under representation of women has made parliament an unequal place when it should be the epitome of equality and democracy. If we can't get equality and democracy right in the primary house of this country - how can we get anything else right?

What is your position on the 20th Amendment?

I certainly believe that the aims of the 20th Amendment, that is, moving away from the current proportional and preference voting system into a mix of first past the post and proportional representation, is necessary to help people from all walks of life have the same strength to enter and survive in politics. The current system is in my view not the best for democracy and has led to numerous issues. For parliamentary democracy to work successfully, electorates need to know who their representatives are and hold them accountable. If you are not right for the job, you won't get elected next time round. However, under the present system, no matter how corrupt or inefficient a politician  you are, you are always bound to get elected somehow - it throws sand into the eyes of democracy and the voters.

If elected to parliament, what are the main issues you will work on?

As I mentioned earlier, poverty, inequality and access to good education are issues that face the people of Colombo and these are some of the main issues that I will be working on. I will also continue to work and be a voice for gender equality for all Sri Lankan women and girls. Gender inequality is I believe one of the biggest tragedies of our time and any country that fails to give equal recognition, opportunity and rights to their women are a disgrace to human civilisation. Here again I believe that education is the key. I will strive to support and introduce gender and other forms of equality education into the school curriculum so that we address these issues of inequality at the primary stage before it is too late.

If the UPFA wins the upcoming election, do you think Mahinda Rajapaksa should be appointed as Prime Minister? Why?

That’s a decision is to be made later. We must first win as a party.

Do you think President Sirisena is an effective leader?

Yes. President Sirisena was elected on a promise of reducing the powers of the Executive Presidency and transferring powers back to parliament. He has effectively done so and the vibrancy we see in parliament, politics and just by reading the newspapers is a reflection of the truth of this promise. President Sirisena is a most exemplary man and he certainly delivered to the people what he promised.

Having pursued a degree in Law, will you take to the Bar at any time in the future?

Being a politician, you are in the process of making and formulating law and policy all the time. I am passionate about the law and wholeheartedly believe in its ability to change society for the better. We can see that change since even the 19th amendment to the constitution. It may be drafted on a piece of paper, but it has the impact of changing our minds, our lives and our societies. I feel therefore that I am always practicing the law and although I am very keen on taking to the Bar, my primary goal right now is to serve the people and utilise the law for their benefit.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Continuing to work for the people and being active in politics.

Do you have a message for the citizens of Sri Lanka?

Vote wisely. Remember that you are your own destiny and your own future. Remember that politicians are not there to be your masters and none of us deserve to be worshipped or held on a high pedestal. You are your own master and we are here to serve you to help you achieve your destinies. But please, unshackle yourself from the nonsense that politicians have fed you all these years. Vote for people who have an education, a story and are there to give you hope that you can be your best. Don't vote for people who are there only because they want more power and are drunk on it already.

Interviewed by Anusha David