Meting out justice to the masses, the goal - Minister Wimal Weerawansa

By Uditha Kumarasinghe

Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa said the biggest challenge before the country is to face the human rights onslaught at the forthcoming UNHRC sessions in March. The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said 2014 should be a year to unite the nation to face this challenge.

Minister Weerawansa said Western forces were attempting to undermine the incumbent Leader who won the war against terrorists and permit Western imperialist forces to realise their separatist dream. Their intention is to elect a puppet administration which would dance according to their whims and fancies and form a Government which would depend on the TNA. Their ultimate goal is to create a separate state in Sri Lanka just how they separated East Timor from Indonesia.

The Minister said whatever provision is in the Constitution which paves the path for separatism should be done away with despite opposition. We can see the statement made by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the dawn of 2014. If somebody speaks in favour of separatism in Russia, they impose punitive action against them. If any such view is expressed even via the Internet in Russia, they are also taken to task. They have legal provisions to prevent the expression of ideas in favour of separatism. I think Sri Lanka needs to adopt this kind of methodology.

Q: You always represent the interest of the poor segment of society. You are against any move to abolish the Year Five Scholarship Examination. Could you explain your stand in politics specially in people-oriented issues?

A: Whatever political ideology we represent, our ultimate goal should be to mete out justice to the masses. We have no right to resort to any move which would be detrimental to the people. When some initiatives are taken in good faith, sometimes it may have an adverse effect on a short- term basis. However, we should manage such situations. We should not deprive opportunities opened for the people. The task entrusted upon us is to further expand opportunities. The issue of the Year Five Scholarship Examination should also be looked at from that perspective. The adverse effect of this examination is that it is highly competitive and parents more interested than the children. This examination has created immense stress among students. Certain changes have to be made regarding the examination and it should be decided collectively by the Cabinet. It is not appropriate for decisions to be taken by certain individuals. Steps should be taken to overcome the immense competition created by this examination. The avenues for students studying in underprivileged schools in urban and rural areas to enter reputed schools should be safeguarded. What we proposed at the Cabinet was to shift this examination to Grade Seven or gr5ade Eight and minimise the unwarranted competition. The final decision should however be taken by Cabinet.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa also drew the attention of Cabinet regarding this matter and sought the ideas of the Ministers. None of the Minister wanted the examination to be abolished. The majority requested the examination to be moved to Grade Seven or Grade Eight. The President informed Cabinet that he would call for a special ministerial meeting to discuss the matter. When a decision was taken to call for a special meeting, the Education Minister has given a different view to the people. As Ministers we have been vested with certain subjects and responsibilities, but that doesn't mean, we can take individual decisions on all areas which come under our portfolio. We have to seek Cabinet approval based on the requirement of that particular issue. Education and the Year Five Scholarship Examination are sensitive issues. When decisions are taken on such issues, it is appropriate to discuss it at Cabinet level.

Q: Sometime ago there was a controversy over imported powdered milk being contaminated. Now there is an acute shortage of milk powder. Are there any invisible forces operative behind the milk powder business to the detriment of developing countries?

A: My personnel view is that as a Government we should take a firm stand on this issue. Nobody would die if they don't consume powdered milk. The others food that we consume contain much more nutrition than powdered milk. Multinational companies which produce powdered milk faced severe challenge regarding the quality of their products recently. It has been proved that some of the ingredients in powdered milk are harmful. This is not an issue which is confined only to Sri Lanka. Similar problems occurred in China and Russia as well. These multinational companies show their old advertisements and try lic attract the public to consume their milk powder products. It is not an easy task. Therefore they attempt to create a milk powder shortage in the market and build a monopoly. We should not leave room for this. We should not depend on imported milk powder. I think this is a blessing in disguise and encourage the local dairy industry to increase production. We should not fall prey to these multinational companies.

Q: Despite repeated warnings from the UPFA high command, still some Pradeshiya Sabha and Urban Council members are defiant and outvote their Budgets. Could you explain as to why this situation continues?

A: Several reasons have led to this situation. According to the new Local Government Act, the member to be elected to a Local Government Body is held responsible for his electorate. But the present members of the Local Government Bodies have been elected under the Proportional Representation System. Under the new Act, suitable persons of that winning party would become Chairman or Mayor of that Local Government Body. According to the ongoing system, the person who gets the highest preferential votes is appointed as the Chairman or Mayor of that Local Government institution. If the members are elected under the electoral basis, this problem would have not occurred. But those who have been elected under the Proportional Representation system make use of that opportunity to bring the person who has obtained the second highest preferential votes into the chairmanship of the Local Government body. This legal provision has given the stimulas to the Deputy Chairman of a Local Government Body to remove the incumbent Chairman and capture power.

There are shortcomings on the part of some chairmen of Local Government bodies so that a majority of the members of that Local Body attempt to remove him. Without resorting to such moves, they should complain to the highest level of Government and sort out the matter.

In addition, there are political clashes between the organiser of the electorate and the chairman of that Local Government body. In this situation attempts are being made to defeat the Budgets of a few Government-controlled Local Government bodies. Over two thirds of the Local bodies are under Government control. The main reason for this situation is not to taking immediate measures as an alliance to rectify offences committed by some UPFA members. Otherwise this would not have continued as a trend.

Q: Is the Government ready to face the human rights onslaught at the forthcoming UNHRC sessions in March? If a resolution is passed against Sri Lanka as was hinted by British Premier David Cameron, what is the impact?

A: This is the biggest challenge before us today. This is an international operation. We categorically stated this to the country since the day the Darusman report came up. The road map of this report has been drafted to suit the election map of Sri Lanka. According to our election map, everybody expect that major national elections will be held in 2015. Therefore certain local and international forces would make use of 2014 to make a political transformation in Sri Lanka.

Q: Ethnic or religious conflicts have become a regular feature in Africa, Asia or even America's. Why has Sri Lanka been singled out with human rights violations?

A: How many harassments are made against Muslims in Europe? In the UK, they don't even accept such a complaint as being a communal or religious harassment. The complaint is registered as a clash between two individuals. At present, the US and Europe are on an anti- Islamic trend. But these are not considered human rights violations.

They don't admit that Catholic fundamentalist political movements are responsible for that. They talk about national and religious harmony. If somebody hurls a stone at anyone in Sri Lanka, they project it as a huge blow against religious harmony. International forces with the help of their worldwide communication network cover up the grave mistakes committed by them. Even trivial mistake made by those who oppose and bow down before them are projected as grave mistakes. Even before the British invaded our country, religious harmony existed. It was the Portuguese and the Dutch who first created religious disharmony in Sri Lanka.

It is absurd how those who originated religious disharmony in Sri Lanka attempt to portray even a trivial incident as a massive religious issue. This is a well-planned conspiracy hatched to block minority votes to be gained by the President at the next Presidential Election. Otherwise there are no religious conflicts in Sri Lanka.

Q: Won't it be correct that the Northern Provincial Council has become defiant in its dealings with the Government mainly due to the influence of the Tamil diaspora and Western democracies?

A: We told this at the very beginning. At present, the Northern Provincial Council with the backing of Western forces has turned into an anti-Sri Lankan power hub. They try to strengthen their power hub day by day. Now they are working based on that agenda. They have set up their own Housing Authority in the North. At present they have implemented some programs which don't conform with the Central Government. They refuse to sing the National Anthem. They are going to conduct a survey on those who became victims during the period of the war against terrorists. A Provincial Council has no power to conduct such surveys. It can only be conducted by the relevant institutions of the Central Government. They attempt to portray the mandate gained by them in the North as an opportunity given for the freedom of Tamil people and separatism. They conduct Eelam summits. The Tamil diaspora is creating that ideology internationally. We should be cautious. Whatever provision is there in the Constitution which paves the path for separatism should be done away with despite any opposition. The statement made by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the dawn of 2014 was a clear example. If somebody speaks in favour of separatism in Russia, they have imposed punitive actions against them. If any such view is expressed even via Internet in Russia, it is subjected to punitive action. They have legal provisions to prevent the expression of ideas in favour of separatism. I think Sri Lanka also needs to adopt this kind of methodology.

Q: Is the new Leadership Council a proper strategy to tackle the UNP's erosion due to its inability to reach out to the masses and satisfy their aspirations?

A: The lack of a strong leadership is the biggest problem faced by the UNP. Under these circumstances, everybody tries to become its leader. If Ranil Wickremesinghe is not suitable for the UNP's leadership, one need not talk about others. Wickremesinghe through practice has proved that he is a leader who can at least tolerate defeat. But others in the UNP cannot tolerate a defeat.

The UNP has to admit Wickremesinghe's leadership as there is nobody within the party to replace him. But his leadership lacks the ability to organise the Opposition and give a new dimension to it. Whatever Leadership Council is set up, finally the UNP will have to look for some outside presidential candidate. Sometimes it may even be former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The UNP thinks if Kumaratunga is fielded as the common candidate of the Opposition, a group of SLFPers who are not in a position to win the next elections would also join her. They also think the JVP would join as they have the experience of forming an alliance with her. They will also seek the support of Sarath Fonseka. The Leadership Council would not be able to make any change within the UNP.