Man on an eco-friendly mission
Sampath Rambukkanage campaigns from behind the wheel of Enosol’s battery-powered car Unlike candidates who flaunt coexistence like a banner, Sampath Rambukkanage, Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) candidate for Panmankada (East), Colombo Municipal Council, walks the talk. He married a Tamil woman. Of course, his political ideology about coexistence and equality had little to do with him falling head over heels for Nirmala. In fact, the racial difference didn't bother him. Despite parental disapproval on both sides, they tied the knot in 2000 when the war was at its height and negative sentiments among the Sinhala people against the Tamil minority was most pronounced. “Our community is made up of Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil people. And we had to face a lot of hardships during the war,” says Rambukkanage. Rambukkanage embarked on his political career in 1997. He was elected a municipal council member on two terms under the preferential voting system. “I couldn’t win the next election bec...