One to one

Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera came out with many allegations against the Government last Thursday. His answers are excerpts from the press conference held in Parliament. Deputy Minister, Dilan Perera replies to Samaraweera's allegations.

Q: What is the clash between former Ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Suriyaarachchi with President Mahinda Rajapaksa?

Mangala: We were an obstruction for certain powerful persons in the Rajapaksa Government to carry out their agendas. We were ill treated during the last one year but tolerated it for the sake of the country. I was deeply humiliated as a Minister and was obstructed in my work. The Government started derailing from the Mahinda Chinthanaya and the SLFP middle path policies. Now the President is acting like a dictator and the Government is going on a fascist path. The Rajapaksa brothers are ruling the country. The two brothers of the President take decisions for the Government but not the President, whom we tirelessly worked to bring to power.

Dilan: I think the clash started because Mangala put his personal political agenda ahead of the agenda of the party and the country. That is the reason for the clash. Otherwise, I can't understand how Mr.Samaraweera tainted the Government as being dictatorial and fascist when he was part of this Government for one year. When he was the Foreign, Ports and Aviation Minister, this Government was good. The President was good when the Foreign Ministry portfolio was taken off from Anura Bandaranaike and given to him. Now the President is a dictator and fascist after the Foreign Ministry portfolio was stripped off him.

Q: Can the people know whether Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa are interfering with the affairs of Ministries?

Mangala: They interfere with the affairs of the Ministries. They take decisions for the Ministries. Basil is the de facto Minister of the Nation Building Ministry. They were annoyed as I did not support Mihin Air and I was not cooperating with the proposals of the Hambantota Port. That is why they conspired to sack me.

Dilan: As far as I know, there is no interference from anybody whatsoever in the Ministry of Justice. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has all the qualities to be the Secretary of Defence. He is the most suited man for that post. Samaraweera never complained to the President or the Cabinet about interferences. But as soon as the Foreign Ministry was taken off from him, he began charging the Rajapaksa brothers. Basil Rajapaksa is going around the country including the North and East with the Jathika Saviya programme. I don't think that Samaraweera has stepped into the North and East (N&E) for years.

Q: Why did Sri Lanka abstain from voting at the UN resolution on Palestine?

Mangala: I did not antagonise the US and lose the friendship with Palestine. Since Sri Lanka Chairs the Israel Practice Committee, we had the right to stay without voting. The US was happy about our decision. Two days after, at the Co-Chair Meeting, the US representative was in favour of Sri Lanka. Even the Palestinian Foreign Minister Dr. Mohamed Al Zhaheer sent me a letter thanking us for not voting with the US. That decision earned double results for the country. Actually the real battle with the LTTE is not in the Vanni but in the international arena.

Dilan: When the Palestinian issue came before the UN, within 24 ours Samaraweera completely betrayed the stance Sri Lanka had taken from the time of Mrs. Bandaranaike.I am sure the Muslim world is looking at this very seriously. I don't know what the JVP friends have to say about it. He is now coming out with various theories just to sling mud at the President and his brothers.

Q: Samaraweera was the de facto leader in President Chandrika Kumaratunga's Government. But he has lost that position now. Is he revolting as a result of the power struggle in the SLFP?

Mangala: This is not a power struggle in the party. But this is a struggle to correct the misguided path taken by the President. It is an effort to bring the SLFP back to the middle path principles and restore the Mahinda Chinthanaya. This is not an effort to create another group in the SLFP.

Dilan: Of course he must be feeling different. I have a lot of respect for Mrs. Kumaratunga. But she had one weakness and that was that there was a Kitchen Cabinet. Samaraweera, Tara de Mel, Mano Tittawelle and a few others were in this unofficial Cabinet. At that time he asked what ever portfolios he wanted and decided portfolios for others. But now, there is no such Cabinet.The President consults all the Ministers on issues and treats them equally.

Q: Did former Ministers Samaraweera and Sripathi Suriyaarachchi boycott the last Emergency vote?

Mangala: We could not vote at the Emergency because we were called for a meeting at Temple Trees at 2.30 p.m. Minister Dallas Alahapperuma and Bharatha Lakshman came and stayed 10 minutes and went away. Since we were informed that the President will not participate at the meeting, we came to Parliament. The Hansard will prove that we voted for all the Emergency Votes as long as we were in Sri Lanka. 26 Ministers did not vote at the last Emergency voting. Why were only we blamed for it?

Dilan: Former Ministers Samaraweera and Suriyaarachchi were in Parliament from morning that day. Samaraweera was never in Parliament from morning to evening in the past. When voting took place the duos were absent. So that is why, anyone can think that they boycotted the voting. I can't say it was a boycott or not, but everybody can interpret it as a boycott. I don't know whether there was a personal problem. But normally on every emergency voting we have to forget all personal problems.

Q: Did the President put the Government in an unstable position after taking 18 UNP MPs into the Government?

Mangala: When the UNP leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe guaranteed the support with 62 MPs to the Government, that MOU was destroyed by taking 18 MPs. All the corrupt and old MPs took to the Government fold. If we implemented the MOU and completed the mega projects, like Weeravila Air Port, Colombo Port Development, Norochcholai power plant and Moragahakanda, we could have gone for the election and won it with a landside victory. A person who does not have an iota of knowledge will not take such a decision.

Dilan: He proves that he is talking with two tongues. When the issue of signing the MOU with the UNP, came up before the Central Committee and at the Government Group Meeting, it was he who opposed the signing of the MOU but categorically stated to take the break away group and give them portfolios. But the majority was of the view that we should sign the MOU to try whether two major parties can work together. He vehemently opposed it. He is now saying something else. So it proves that he has two tongues. Everything changed after he lost the Foreign Ministry portfolio.

Q: Was there any move to topple the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa?

Mangala: As the Treasurer of the SLFP, I have joined hands with 90 percent of MPs to frame my ten proposals to the President. Though all have raised their hands at the Executive Committee meeting, later they called me and informed me that they had to vote according to the President's decision. This is not a struggle to send home the President or topple this Government, because he has five more years to complete. But this is an effort to democratise the workings of the Government and return to the ideals of the Mahinda Chinthanaya.

Dilan: Looking at the conspiracies that have taken place in the SLFP, President Rajapaksa sensed such a move and took prompt action. One such conspiracy was when our leader S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was assassinated. Then Mrs. Bandaranaike was politically killed by stripping off her civic rights. President Kumaratunga escaped an assassination attempt. There was a conspiracy to create rifts among Ministers. Now we have a strong Government with 120 members. We had only 88 members. However, Anura Bandaranaike later realised that he got caught to conspirators. So, we must give credit to the President for detecting the conspiracy and taking appropriate action.

Q: Has the President taken all the good Ministries and important projects under his authority and allocated more funds for these institutions?

Mangala: Of the total Rs. 1319 billion Government expenditure, Rs. 766 billion has been allocated for his Ministries. It is about 60 percent. The other 106 Ministers have been given only Rs. 553 billion. All the good projects which have more money are under the National Building Ministry. The De facto Minister is Basil. He also interferes with the projects of other Ministries.

Dilan: There are six Ministers in the Nation Building Ministry with the President. It is not that the President has allocated so much of money for him. There are five Non Cabinet Ministers working at the Nation Building Ministry on different subjects. S. M. Chandrasena, Puspakumara, D. M. Dassanayake, Gunaratne Weerakoon and Rohitha Abeygunawardana. Samaraweera's problem is that he does not like to give these responsibilities to up-and-coming rural leaders. Q: Has the corruption and misuse of public resources become rampant in the Government?

Mangala: Some powerful people in the Government are taking commissions. Tenders have been called even without informing the respective Ministers. Privatisation of the Hingurana Sugar factory is one such example. All the Ministers are fed up and disappointed. That is why I decided to speak against the misuse of resources and corruption.

Dilan: I don't think that Samaraweera can talk of corruption and misuse of resources. He spent Rs. 110 million to refurbish his office. Just imagine this colossal amount of money spent to partition his office and paint walls. He could have built three schools in Matara or built two hospitals. When this matter came up at the COPE meeting, I questioned from Port Authority officials whether they purchased gold chairs for Samaraweera. He spent millions of Port and Aviation Authority money for the CBK autobiography. I am sure she deserves it but not at the expense of Government money. There were 150 mistakes in the book. He used 37 vehicles and got 54 Port officials to his personal staff. I am not going into the areas of how he took young boys abroad on Government expenditure. He dug the entire Galle Face with port authority money.

Q: Is Samaraweera playing in to the hands of JVP or is he being manipulated by the JVP?

Mangala: We could have got the support of the JVP to run this Government. While discussions were on with them, the President invited the UNP too. The JVP was disappointed with this. Wimal and I were the Chief campaigners for President Rajapaksa's election.

Dilan: I don't know who is manipulating whom. But the JVP is silent on all these allegations against Samaraweera. The JVP union is silent on the Rs.110 million refurbishment issue, the CBK autobiography and the Palestine issue, the personal use of 37 vehicles and taking 54 port officers to his personal staff. Samaraweera is covering the backs of the JVP leaders and they cover Samaraweera's back.