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Controversial UNP Parliamentarian, Mahinda Wijesekera who was sacked from his party post by his leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, claimed that Ranil was now a defeated leader who could not be 'marketed' at future elections. In an interview with Sunday Observer staffer Jayantha Sri Nissanka, Wijesekera pointed out that Ranil's arbitrary action on him was a warning to S. B. Dissanayake and others who have been agitating for reforms within the party.

Following are excerpts of the interview:

Q: The UNP faced a humiliating defeat at the last local government polls. How do you analyse the election results?

A: The UPFA had the opportunity of holding the LG polls within six months of the Presidential election victory. We had the same benefit in 2002 after the 2001 General Election victory. However, the UNP had a greater opportunity of wining, after the JVP and JHU decided to contest separately. We failed to capitalise on the Government's inability to handle the economic and ethnic problem. We totally failed in that aspect and in some areas the UNP came third. As the biggest single political party, this is a grave affront.

Q: What are the reasons you attribute to the debacle?

A: Our supporters are now fed up after the Presidential election setback. Some joined the Government. S.B Dissanayake was not given a proper place in the party. The party leader did not have a strategy to win the rural masses. Reforms were not implemented properly. These are some of the reasons for the defeat.

Q: The UNP was able to win certain councils not because people voted for the UNP. It was due to the benefit gained from the JHU and JVP split. Is it correct?

A: That is the thing our leadership ought to have understood. The JVP is the threat to the UNP today.

Q: After S. B. Dissanayake was released from jail the issue of UNP reforms surfaced. Is he backing the reformist group?

A: I proposed that S.B. should be a deputy leader and Karu should be the leader of the party and Ranil Wickremesinghe should be a senior leader like Lee Quan Yew of Singapore. Actually Ranil has not done anything to rise to the the status of Lee Quan Yew.

Since we are disciplined we don't want to chase Ranil out from the party. I will never advocate it. After SB's release the people rallied round him and it was the people who proposed that SB should be the next leader because of his charisma. If Ranil, Karu and SB get together, we can win any election.

SB told Ranil that he (SB) would only campaign if SB was appointed MP on the National List and Reforms were introduced.

Q: Why did Wickremesinghe relieve you from the UNP Executive Committee and District organiser posts?

A: This was done to silence me because I always fought for reforms. But I will not keep quiet. I will struggle to implement reforms.

I was removed without citing any reason. I have not been charged for criticising the leadership even though Tissa Attanayake claims so. Such kind of 'bootlickers' are running the party. But I will function in both these posts because people want me to be in these posts to serve them.

If necessary, I will even go to courts. This removal is illegal. It has not been placed before the Executive Committee. Cannot we discuss within the party as to why we were defeated? Should we just listen to the stories of the leader like a group of dumb men? I am a dignified man. I am not a door mat. This letter is a great humiliation to me. Without reforms the UNP has no future.

Q: But don't you think that this is a warning to the rebels to neutralise them?

A: I strongly feel more than me, this is a warning to SB and Rajitha. Ranil will see whether others will give up demanding reforms after this. I will also see whether others will leave my camp or they will take a decision from now onwards to start a fresh struggle to demand reforms. SB and Rajitha spoke to me.

I don't think that they have betrayed our struggle to bring reforms to the party. I informed M.H. Mohammed to call the group members who met at my house - Mano Wijeratne, Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Rukman Senanayake to Mohammed's house to discuss reforms in the party.

Q: Have you been removed after an inquiry?

A: Not at all. I still don't know the reason for my removal. I plan to go to courts as a second option. I will be compelled to go to courts if someone else is appointed to my position. I am carefully studying the situation to ascertain whether I was a victim of the campaign for reforms. I will see the reaction of other members in the camp like S.B., Rajitha, G.L. Peiris, Bandula and M.H. Mohammed.

Q: Will they also abandon you because earlier some reformists left you in the lurch due to the pressure mounted by the leader?

A: I don't say that they will leave me in the lurch. We were talking of reforms even in 2001. Sajith Premadasa and many others backed out. Tissa Attanayake became the Assistant Secretary thanks to the reforms.

Q: Don't you think that your removal will create another problem in the party?

A: People in my electorate requested me to take any decision. But I cannot take hasty decisions. I am not doing politics as a job. I am a lawyer and a dignified man. I cannot cross over without a national strategy of the President to solve crucial problems in the country. If there is a national strategy why should we not go? We don't need Ministerial portfolios to work for such a national endeavour.

Q: Do you say that there is no internal democracy in the party?

A: That is true. If the UNP has internal democracy I will not receive a letter like this. The leader and few others got together and drafted this letter. Thereafter, the leader left the country. Now no one is there to clarify.

Q: Will you join the Government if you are invited?

A: I know President Rajapaksa over the past 30 years. I did a good job for his first election campaign as a student. But I cannot just join the Government saying that Mahinda Chinthanaya is good unless the President shows me a clear strategy to solve the Ethnic and economic problems of the country. The Government has the power but no strategy to solve problems. But the UNP does not have a strategy to get to power.

Q: Is Ranil Wickremesinghe scared of SB's release and your activities ?

A: I think that is correct. Today many people talk about SB than Ranil. Some are proposing him as the next leader. I never said that SB should be the next Presidential candidate. How can I appoint him like that? We don't know who will be nominated from the other side. But Ranil thought that I am behind all these proposals. That is why I was treated in this manner. The next victim will be SB. But they cannot neutralise us in this manner.

Q: Is SB a potential leader?

A: Yes I think so. He is a graduate. He was a student leader. SB was also in the Communist party. He is a son of a farmer. He brought Chandrika Bandaranaike to power ending the power base of the UNP. Then he helped her to become the Chief Minister, Prime Minister and later President. He introduced the Samurdhi program. Then he helped the UNP to form a Government in 2001. SB has proved that he is a good leader. He is one of the potential leaders we have today.

Q: Is there a long journey for SB in the UNP?

A: He will have to cross many hurdles. There is no rule that a leader should be a Royalist. The UNP is not a property of one man. I am not blowing SB out of proportion. People flock at SB's meetings. Ranil cannot draw such crowds. I was blamed for not doing the election campaign well. But I organised 100 rallies. The leader came only for one rally held in a Matara temple and did not address. I did my best to win the Matara district. At least we were able to win the Malimbada Council.

Q: Why didn't the UNP ask for leave in Parliament for SB? Was it a plan to isolate SB?

A: Ranil said that he cannot ask pardon from Chandrika. But Rajitha and I pleaded for pardon. When we proposed to ask leave, we were told it was not necessary. I don't know whether this was done deliberately. Even such a proposal was mooted by Government benches when President Rajapaksa was the Prime Minister. But I cannot exactly say what really happened to that proposal.

Q: Is Ranil is a weak leader who cannot win elections?

A: I think he is not a popular leader. He is a hardliner on policies. His policies are more international than national. He does not examine the poor in the proper perspective. That is why he scrapped Samurdhi benefits. He was ready to send 300,000 State employees home. Unemployed graduates realised that he will not give any relief for them. That is why they joined hands with the UPFA. What the World Bank says is correct to him.

But he has lots of other talents. He fearlessly signed the Ceasefire agreement. Even the LTTE later said that he is a very cunning man. Milinda said that it was Ranil who divided the LTTE into two groups. The LTTE took this seriously. That is why Tamil people were not allowed to cast their votes. But no disciplinary action was taken against Milinda for making a such blunder.

Q: Can you win any future election under the leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe?

A: We do not need to change Ranil. There is no urgency to select a Presidential candidate now. Later we can decide among Ranil, Karu and SB when elections are due. Priority is that the UNP must be united. It is wrong if Ranil thinks that he is the only leader. The UNP will be totally routed if a snap election is held now. Ranil can not understand this. Can the UNP win an election after removing me? Is this the solution? Am I not an asset to the party? We cannot win any election if the UNP does not implement reforms.

Q: Can you market Wickremesinghe's face at next Presidential election?

A: When we have leaders who can be marketed why should we nominate Ranil. Ranil should realise this and handover the leadership to a person who can take the party to victory. Now SB leads the popularity vote.

Q: It is said that a group of persons close to Wickremesinghe take the vital decisions. Is this the reason for the UNP's downfall?

A: Once Prof G.L. Peiris said that he saw the UNP manifesto after it was printed. None of the nine members in the Political Committee of the UNP saw it. That is the group which had ruined this party. They don't feel the pulse of the people and problems of the country.

That is why our manifesto became a joke among the JVP members. They tore it to pieces at political meetings. I have not been consulted for the problems in the Matara District. All the artistes flocked round Mahinda Rajapaksa because our manifesto has been drafted by the group who do not have iota of knowledge on cultural affairs.

We lost election even when the Tsunami badly hit Sri Lanka. People voted for President Rajapaksa while living in temporary huts.

Q: Can you only blame Wickremesinghe for the defeat at the Presidential election because all of you too were responsible. How come you lost your district?

A: During an election, people are concerned about the candidates. If I had contested I could have mustered more votes. But people did not vote for Ranil. We can't do miracles forcing people to vote for Ranil. Actually Ranil would have lost by a bigger majority. It was we who narrowed the gap. I was not allowed to address my meeting. He came to Devinuwara and delivered his speech and left the platform in 15 minutes. People asked me to speak but I refused.

Q: In this situation can you win the Colombo Municipal Council?

A: I can't say that we will not win the CMC but it is doubtful. Because there is no guarantee that people will vote for an 'Independent group' to bring the UNP into power. Actually people are confused. In case, the Independent members refuse to resign then what can we do? This happened to us in 2002 in Akuressa. Our nomination list was rejected and our members campaigned for an independent group.

Later they refused to resign even after they gave us letters. The leader is afraid to take action against Maharoof and Milinda for committing that blunder. The leader is treating us differently.

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