Karu lets the UNP down - Johnston Fernando

Co-operatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando said the decision by the UNP Leadership Council headed by Karu Jayasuriya to boycott yesterday's function at Temple Trees to 'celebrate the cultural diversity of the Commonwealth to mark the Sinhala and Tamil New Year', is clear testimony to the fact that those in the UNP are good for nothing.

Jayasuriya's call to UNP parliamentarians to boycott the Temple Trees function are ill-advised when his leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is out of the country. This is is evidence that the today the UNP is full of ignorant people, the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday.

UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya is an unfortunate leader. Earlier he took the right decision to extend his support to the UPFA Government to end the terrorist war. When the Government was at the receiving end of winning the battle against terroristm, he reverted to the UNP.

Eventually he lost his party positions and was suspended from the party. If Jayasuriya remained with the Government, he would have safeguarded his prestige and recognition, the Minister said.

The UNP had said that "they decided to boycott the event as the Government has violated all values and principles governing the Commonwealth of Nations". Minister Fernando said this is yet another absurd utterances by the UNP. The UNP always deals with the international community.

They are ready even to betray the country to the international community. Therefore, they make various statements in the interests of the international community.

When arrangements were made to hold CHOGM in Sri Lanka, the UNP said that the Government would not be able to do so.

All these attempts by the UNP are driven by jealousy and hypocrisy. The UNP is more prone to the West and its roots are not in Sri Lanka. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is always with the people. He always takes decisions on behalf of the people. The UNP politicians such as Karu jayasuriya always take decisions to satisfy the interests of the West and the international community. However, this is nothing new to the UNP as it is their usual practice, he said.

At present those in the UNP cannot properly identify the difference between a donkey and a pony. As a former UNPer I regret this pathetic situation faced by the UNP. If the UNP heeds Karu Jayasuriya's advice, it would loose its present members too, the Minister said.