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| Sunday, 14 November 2004 |
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Features |  |
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There are reforms within the party' - Tissa Attanayake
The UNP Deputy Secretary General and Kandy District Parliamentarian Tissa Attanayake was interviewed by Sunday Observer Staffer Rohan Mathes. Here are some excerpts. Q. There are many articles in the papers about UNP reforms? Can you explain them. A. Reforms are taking place at many levels, even at grass roots level. The new electoral and district Chief Organisers and leaders of four trade unions would be appointed. There will be reforms within the party's professional unions too. We hope to complete all this within the next two months and thereafter we will get ready for a Presidential election in 2005. Q. Is your party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, the next UNP Presidential candidate or will he be contested by others within the party for the posts? A. Ranil Wickremesinghe would be our sole party leader and our only Presidential candidate. There is no doubt whatsoever about his leadership. Our executive council, Politbureau and the Party Parliamentary Group unanimously approved Ranil Wickremasinghe as our sole leader and UNP Presidential Candidate. Q. There is speculation on possible constitutional changes to be brought-in by the Alliance government soon. What is your response to this? A. Yes, we are aware that the government wants to change the constitution to suit their own personal political agendas and not for the good of the country. This is very dangerous as the constitution is supreme in any country. There is a laid-out procedure in changing a constitution. In other exceptional situations, such as at the end of a war or revolution, alternative methods could be used. But here it is solely intended to extend President Kumaratunga's office in Parliament. There are two grave dangers to this. One is that future Presidents or leaders could also change constitutions at their discretion, baselessly. The other is that likewise the LTTE could also demand constitutional changes to suit their needs. Both could be immensely detrimental to our country. The constitution of a country should be drafted carefully in consultation with all parties of a country. It is not the constitution of one single party such as the SLFP, JVP or the Alliance. Q. The government has signalled that they may oust UNP Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara shortly. What would be UNP's reaction? A. Yes, we are aware of it. Over the years there has been a tradition in ousting a Speaker if necessary. He could be ousted by a 'no confidence motion' if he has made a significant error or been partisan when discharging his duties as Speaker. No such thing has occured here. So there is no justification into it. Q. But the Speaker had been appointed by a simple majority in Parliament. So he could also be ousted by a simple majority, without bringing in a 'no confidence motion'. A. No, the Speaker cannot be ousted in that manner like in a 'Coffee Shop'. Being a Commonwealth country as well, we have to follow and fall-in line with the traditional Parliamentary procedures. Here again the government has a political motive to oust the UNP Speaker in order to carry out their political manoeuvring sans hindrance and change the country's constitution for their benefit. Q. What are your views on the assault of the 'Lake House' Journalist at a rally in Kandy? A. Actually that incident had occured at a UNP protest rally recently. This has been due to a private and personal feud between the Provincial Council member Jayasinghe and the journalist MathuratA. There had been no political motive behind it and we don't consider it as an assault on a journalist. We however deplore it and would be taking disciplinary action against the PC member. Q.Is the UNP still undecided about participating in the National Advisory Council for Peace and Reconciliation (NACPR) meetings? A. We don't intend to participate in the NACPR sessions. What is the purpose of the NACPR? Firstly we wish to know the stand taken by the government, at this crucial hour. The JVP which is a key player in the government holds a different view from the SLFP. So the Alliance must first declare their unanimous stand on the whole issue and should first resume the peace talks with the Tigers. We would extend our fullest support to the government then. This the UNP believes, is an unproductive exercise to fool the people, especially the international community. The government in their bid to bridge the worsening budget deficit are badly in need of foreign funds. The NACPR was formed only to impress and lure the international donor agencies and obtain funds. What progress has the NACPR made in their first month? Nothing at all. The NACPR will not even exist after the budget. This would also take the same course as the 'Thavalama' in the past. Q. Are there any other JHU members, monks or lay persons joining the UNP? A. I don't want to comment on it just now. Not only from the JHU, but even members of other parties including Ministers and Parliamentarians of the Alliance are waiting to join the UNP. Q. What are your comments on the government's Wev Dahasak project? A. We dont say the project is bad but what is this project? Do we actually have 10,000 wev (tanks)? They seem to add all the wev, pokunu, amunu and pataha, to make-up this 10,000. The President herself has declared there is no transparency and accountability in the project. Furthermore, there does not seem to be any specific and systematic plan in restoring these tanks. They would only be tanks filled with rain water. It seems the JVP has formulated a way to pay salaries to their party supporters by this project. They have also spent excessively for publicity. Q. What has happened to the roofing-sheets project now? A. The roofing-sheet project was inaugurated in good faith to help the 'poorest of the poor' to have a decent home. We obtained an 'Indian Line of Credit' to finance for the same. There have been some discrepancies in the distribution of the sheets as it was made just prior to the general election. The government in their attempt to sling mud at the UNP, have just focussed their undue attention on a few individual cases and making a huge fuss over them. Now what have they achieved by it? Piles of these sheets are just getting corroded and destroyed. If the court proves that UNPers are guilty of this matter we will take necessary action against them, irrespective of their party status. We have already suspended Lilantha Perera's party membership pending investigations. Q. What do you think of the rising cost of living? A. This is terrible. Due to the mismanagement of the economy, the value of the Rupee has depreciated badly and the prices of essential items have increased three to four fold, despite the promises given by the SLFP and the JVP that they would give a good life to the masses. Now the government is evading the problem treating it as a joke and claiming that the people should make certain sacrifices. If they are really sincere in easing the burden placed upon the people, they should increase the salaries by at least Rs.7000 at the forthcoming budget. The rising price of oil in the world market is not the sole cause. The government is earning a Rs.29 profit per litre of diesel and they could forego this profit and pass the benefit to the consumer temporarily, as an emergency measure. They are not doing that. If something is not done soon, there would be an explosion in the 'cost of living'. Q. In the backdrop of government allegations against UNP Parliamentarians such as Ravi Karunanayake, Abdul Cader, S.B. Dissanayake among others for various offences, what is happening within the UNP camp about them? A. We cannot take any action against them, until it is proved in court that they are guilty of any offence. So we will wait and see. Q. What is the controversy surrounding young Sajith Premadasa within the UNP? A. There is no controversy pertaining to Sajith PremadasA. We have held an inquiry pertaining to his absence at voting in the 'Tax Amnesty Bill' in Parliament. We have decided at the politburo level of the party to hold impartial inquiries on such matters on any party member irrespective of his party status. On that basis, we have held inquiries not only on Sajith Premadasa but also on S.B. Dissanayake, Maharoof, Bandula Goonewardena and many others. They have all accepted their respective mistakes and vowed not to make them again. |
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