We can confidently face any contender - Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage

By Manjula Fernando

Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said the Common Opposition, in a bid to mislead the voters, was coming out with millions of quixotic promises such as the abolition of the Executive Presidency, which is only a dream, given that they need 100 MPs from the Government side to acquire the necessary two thirds in Parliament.

"The Opposition does not have even a simple majority in the House. They have only 57 seats, the two thirds is with us. If anyone can abolish the Executive Presidency, it is only President Mahinda Rajapaksa".

Minister Aluthgamage said the Common candidate is ushered by those who once championed for Federalism and people realise the danger of appointing him to head the country.

Q: The Opposition is harping on the claim that their election campaign is causing the Government to disintegrate and that the Government is dreading the new Opposition headed by Maithripala Sirisena. As a key Minister in the Cabinet how do you respond to the Opposition?

A: Nothing can cause fear in this Government. The word 'Fear' is not in our vocabulary. We are not worried about the Opposition candidate. We can confidently face any contender, be it Maithripala Sirisena, Ranil Wickremasinghe, Chandrika Kumaratunga or Sarath Fonseka, no one can match President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Government has done a lot for this country.

We have won a war which everyone thought could not be won by military means. Currently the Government is on a mega development drive. People have begun to reap the benefits of peace and are happy. There is nothing for the Government to be afraid of. When you go to the village anyone can see the unprecedented welcome the President receives from the common masses. You could see who the people are with. I don't see a reason to fear the outcome of the election.

Q: So you reject the claim that the Government is shaken by the fact that the Opposition has mustered a senior SLFPer Maithripala Sirisena to become their common candidate?

A: Choosing a common candidate was a decision taken not by the UNP or their local allies. It was a plot hatched by the LTTE diaspora and a few Western countries. If not for this plot, Ranil Wickremasinghe was prepared to be the forthcoming Presidential polls as the Opposition candidate.

He is on record saying that he will be the UNP candidate. There was huge pressure from the international front, then only the talk of a common candidate and talk of defections from the UPFA began.

The intention behind these conspirators is to topple the Government by hook or by crook. They conspired to break away SLFP members. But their plans went awry. The common candidate episode was a failure from the beginning. Only three SLFPers broke rank sand left the Government.

Q: Former Minister Naveen Dissanayake who recently crossed over to the Government claimed that he was offered Rs.100 million to remain in the Government. Could you comment?

A: Who will say Naveen is worth that much to the Government. He should know his value. How can he claim to have been offered Rs.100 million. That is so unrealistic. The President has directed the police to investigate his claims. He will, now, have to come out with the truth. He must reveal who offered him this money. These are all lies, when they want to cross over, such stories are given life.

Why would anyone offer him anything, he is not indispensable to the Government. He was with the Government for the last few years but he has done nothing to Nuwara Eliya. His output was unsatisfactory.

Naveen was planning to crossover for the past year. When it was rumoured that UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya was to be the Opposition Presidential candidate, Naveen was making plans to defect. He had publicly said this in Parliament. Now he has nothing else to do but to walk the talk.

People voted for him to be with the SLFP and work for the country. Now he wants to go and he needs excuses to give his voters.

Q: Despite the Governments' assurances of President mahinda Rajapaksa still being the most popular leader, the Common Opposition claims, that they will defeat him at the upcoming election.

A: Twelve candidates have handed over nominations. Even Siritunga Jayasuriya is also confident that he will win the race and be the next executive president of the country.

There are independent candidates who claim that they are going to win. All those who have handed over nominations will claim so but everyone can see where the people are. There is no uncertainty as to who will win, but the Opposition will keep on trying different tactics to mislead the voters.

Q: People fear that political disharmony and polarization of the majority community will see a revival of LTTE terrorism in the country. The Common Opposition Candidate however, has assured that under his government the LTTE will have no place. Your comments?

A:Then why did he have a discussion with the TNA four days before he crossed over. He had a discussion with them at one of the leading hotels in Colombo. The TNA was trying to get onto his campaign stage also. I don't know why they did not do it so far. The Common Opposition has agreements with the TNA. Just see who is backing Maithripala Sirisena, Chandrika Bandaranaike, Rajitha Senaratne and the TNA. All these people campaigned for a federal system in Sri Lanka. You could see what is going to happen if they are elected.

Maithripala is just a puppet. This is a drama choreographed by Ranil, Chandrika, Rajitha and all the others. They take the crucial decisions, not Maithripala. Former Presidents, former Prime Ministers and former Generals are playing lead roles in this drama.

His promises too are not practical, if he wins, he is going to appoint Ranil as Prime Minister, his Cabinet will comprise only 25 Ministers. This Cabinet is going to work for three months. Then they will disintegrate into their own political parties and go for a general election. Do you think its a workable plan? How can you limit the Cabinet of Ministers to 25. At the moment there are 35 or so MPs within the UNP alone, asking for portfolios.

On the other hand, to abolish the Executive Presidency, the President needs two thirds in Parliament. To do that the Common Candidate has to get 100 MPs to leave the Government side. Can he ever do that? He succeeded to get only two to join him so far. The Opposition doesn't have even a simple majority in the House. They have only 57 seats, the two thirds is with us. If anyone can abolish the Executive Presidency, it is only President Mahinda Rajapaksa. SLFP MPs will never support Maithripala.

I will challenge that Maithripala will never get the two thirds in Parliament to abolish the Executive Presidency.

Q: The Common Candidate has assured former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka that he will restore all the privileges including his Army rank once he is elected to power. Your comments?

A: In his bid to get elected, he will come out with millions of promises, some are to appease the people around him and the others to appease the voters.

Q: With the presidential race hotting up by the day and the Opposition camp bracing for a tough fight, can the Government assure the voters of a peaceful election in January?

A: During President Mahinda Rajapaksa's tenure, there were about 27 elections. The conduct of polls were peaceful in all these elections. During the Uva Provincial Council election, there were no major incidents even in Badulla. There will be a peaceful election this time around as well and people will decide whom they want to elect to lead the country to prosperity.

Owner responsible for misuse of phone - TRC

by Kurulu Kariyakarawana

The owner of a mobile phone is solely responsible for the use and misuse of his or her phone. In the event of it being misused to make a nuisance call, threat or a defamatory call, irrespective of the fact that it was used by a third party, the owner is solely responsible and answerable for it, a senior TRC official said.

Referring to the defamatory call directed at Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage at a live political talk show telecast by the Derana Television channel on Wednesday night, the senior official said that the owner of the phone is responsible if it was misused by any chance by a third party.

Certain newspapers earlier carried reports that Mirihana Police Special Investigation Unit found that UNP Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake as being responsible for the defamatory call directed at the Sports Minister.

Sports Ministry sources said that initial police investigations have revealed the number of the defamatory call had been registered under the National Identity Card number of MP Ramanayake and the address given for the registration of the 'Sim' supporting the particular phones number also belonged to the latter who lived in the MPs quarters in Madiwela.

Newly appointed SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadharshana Yapa pointed fingers at MP Ramanayake that credible evidence was available that the latter had altered his voice and made the defamatory call.

Vehemently denying these allegations MP Ramanayake told the media yesterday that this was a ruse by the Government to tarnish his political image.

When contacted DIG Western Province South G D A K Senaratne told the Sunday Observer yesterday that this case is still being investigated and no conclusion has been drawn so far.

Minister Aluthgamage who was offended over the telephone call directed at him at the talk show, which he claimed had a defamatory connotation, left the live show while it was in progress and lodged a complaint with the Mirihana Police. He vowed to take legal action against MP Ramanayake and had lodged a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department as well.