Gen. Fonseka surrounded by bunch of traitors - Minister Champika Ranawaka

by Manjula FERNANDO

JHU member and Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka in an interview with the Sunday Observer says the conspirators are working full time to destabilize and plunge the country into a dark era by creating a division among nationalist forces but they are yet to succeed in their evil attempts.

Q: The President decided to seek a fresh mandate in January next year although according to our polls calendar he could have remained in office for another two years. What will be the JHU’s stance at the polls?

A: The President and our heroic Armed Forces restored national security. That paved way for development and other economic activities, especially in the North and the East.

The President has a right to seek a fresh mandate to ensure political stability so that within the next six years the Government can implement long-term development plans.

People in the North and the East have a golden opportunity to cast their vote without fear and elect a leader of their choice. During the first presidential election in 1982, the LTTE scuttled the process using violent methods. In 1988, it was the JVP.

They boycotted the election and forced others to do so too. Then the LTTE was using their violent tactics to disrupt the elections till 2005.The President should have a renewed mandate from these people because he has fulfilled all the promises mentioned in the Mahinda Chinthanaya. The unitary character of this country has been preserved.

We want to support the country regain its lost opportunities. The JHU wants this country to have a great leap forward. We are no more for ‘Diyawu’, ‘Karawu’, ‘Ganiwu’ slogans.

We need a constructive era. We want this country to become the Naval, Aviation, Commercial and Knowledge hub of Asia. Within the next five years we will have our own satellite.

On the other hand we are exploring the sea bed. We have submitted proposals to extend our continental shelf by 23 times, thus enabling us to exploit all the resources in 1.4 million more sq. metres of sea bed. Explorations have found that we could extract 9 billion barrels of oil from our continental shelf. This is one percent of the total capacity of the world.

Q: The main election pledge of the UNP led coalition and their would be tie-up, JVP is that if they win the election they would abrogate the Executive Presidency. The JHU was of this opinion at one time?

A: President Rajapaksa has signed an agreement with JHU Leader Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thera giving a pledge that the Executive President will be accountable to Parliament and the Judiciary. We shall not seek for an abrogation of the executive presidency alone without doing away with the present electoral system, the Proportional Representation system. These two are inter-connected.

You cannot simply change the Electoral Process without having some stability in Parliament. If we do it, the Western Powers could simply change Governments every month or so and destabilize the country. They tried to topple the Government in 2007. We have ample proof of this.

Q: Do you think he made the right choice in deciding to call a Presidential Election before a General Election?

A: After November 19, 2009 the President had the right to go for a fresh mandate. He will lose one year. But we need political stability. We need to explore the window of opportunity opened up by our heroic soldiers.

The President is of the view that the Northern and Eastern people should also be given an opportunity to vote. He feels the need to renew his mandate.

Q: War victories will be the trump card in the upcoming election. Will there be a split in the majority Sinhala Buddhist vote base due to the candidature of Gen. Fonseka? Is he seen as an electoral threat to President Mahinda Rajapaksa?

A: Not at all. He is not worried about individuals. Gen. Fonseka has done a tremendous job for the unification of this country.

At the time he had a very good team. Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya, Maj. Gen. Prasanna de Silva, Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva, Maj. Gen. Chagie Gallage, etc.

Who are the people in his team now? Ranil Wickremesinghe, who once said Thoppigala was just a jungle. His second Lt. Mangala Samaraweera who retorted the Army Commander was not fit even to lead the Salvation Army, Ravi Karunanayake who said the troops were in Medawachchi, not Kilinochchi, Lakshman Kiriella who said any madman can lead the war, Mano Ganeshan who is a campaigner for the ruthless LTTE terrorist organization and Hakeem who represents a fundamentalist party.

They are a bunch of traitors trying to manipulate retired Gen. Fonseka for their own goals. Gen. Fonseka must be vigilant and cautious of these conspirators.

We should make the people aware of the impending threat. There could be planned assassinations to diminish the popularity of the President.

In the past, Ehelepola Nilame went against King Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe.This affected the sovereignty of our country.

The British took over because of this division. Now the same tactics of the British colonial era are being used to divide our national forces.

Q: Will there be a division in the majority vote base?

A: This is their plan. But the Sinhala Buddhists have not yet endorsed Gen. Fonseka’s candidature. Not a single individual known nationalist has endorsed Gen. Fonseka’s decision.

This is a clear indication that no one is going to camp with him. Everyone knows Gen. Fonseka is an able individual to lead our Army. But his coalition partners are known traitors. He will become imprisoned within his own camp.

On the other hand President Rajapaksa has already laid the foundation to lead the country towards prosperity by modernizing the road network, ports, airports, communication network. The country is ready for that great leap forward.

Q: What if General Fonseka contests as an independent candidate?

A: We don’t know if he will come as an independent candidate but the national forces will not support his candidature at this juncture.

Q: The Opposition accuses the government of widespread corruption?

A: We must evolve a structure to fight corruption and ensure transparency in Government deals and evaluate good governance.

The JHU has called for constitutional reforms, not the 17th Amendment but new reforms which can counter corruption. We must bring in meritocracy and do away with bureaucracy.As far as my ministry is concerned we have introduced meritocracy and we are financially sustainable. We do not depend on taxes and the Treasury. As a model Ministry we have shown the entire country that State institutions can do away with corruption.

But the UNP cannot talk of corruption. Their track record is so tainted they have no moral right to talk of corruption.

We need a strong and a formidable opposition to correct the path of the Government. Without Damayanthi Darsha, Susanthika could not have won the Olympics. The strong competition led Susanthika to go for the best. We now have a 30 per cent Opposition. What we need is a 49 per cent Opposition.