President has earned the right to seek another term - Minister Muralidharan

By Manjula FERNANDO

Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralidharan says the TNA has no standing policy over national issues and their protest in parliament over the 18th Amendment was all but a big farce. Interviewed by the Sunday Observer on the 18th Amendment and its effects on the minorities last week he says Tamils and Muslims in the North and East will see no wrong in the President seeking another mandate to remain in office since ultimately it will be the people who decide if he should 'stay' or 'go'.

Q: What is your take on the 18th Amendment? How will it affect the rights of minorities?

A: I do not think there will be a direct impact on the Tamils and Muslims by the new amendment. There will not be a Muslim and Tamil head of state. Our responsibility will be to help elect a good President. Mahinda Rajapaksa is a suitable leader for our country. If he is re-elected that will be a victory for the country.

I think people have been made to misunderstand the 18th Amendment.

Some think that the new amendments call for abolishing the commissions set up under the 17th amendment. This is far from the truth. The Provincial Police Commission, The Public Services Commission, Bribery Commission as well as the others will not be scrapped under the new amendment. These are just political lies.

Q: But the TNA has sounded alarm bells and protested vehemently when the amendment bill was debated in Parliament last week?

A: We cannot tow the TNA line. They change their policy from time to time. They will oppose anything put forward by the Government even if it benefits people. If the TNA decides to join hands with the Government, they can do a lot for the Tamil community.

Q: The UNP too did not attend the parliament debate on September 8. Instead they held a protest campaign outside?

A: Will the UNP reverse the 18th Amendment if they come to power? I doubt it very much.

The UNPers walked out of parliament when this crucial piece of amendment was taken up for debate in the House. They should have participated in the debate and argued their case. They should have tabled the reasons for their reservations.

In that sense the TNA was much better. They stayed in and recorded their protest.

Every citizen of Sri Lanka must regard President Mahinda Rajapaksa apart from politics. He brought in freedom for all communities. He is equal to Mao Tse Tung of China, Nehru of India and Nelson Mandela of South Africa.

He has earned the right to ask for another term in office from the people.

Q: What is the general feeling among the people in the North and East about the 18th Amendment?

A: The Muslims and the Tamils in the North and East are not much worried about the new amendment. Some politicians however try to misinform the people and create trouble.

The Ampara TNA MP voted in favour of the bill, we appreciate his action. He has decided to cross over to the Government.

Q: What are your views about the proposed electoral reforms?

A: A positive thing about abolishing the current preferential system is that it will save a lot of money wasted on propaganda activities. It will put a stop to in house rivalry and discord over preferential votes as well.

It is a general concern that this will affect the minority party representation in the parliament. There has been discussion on this subject.

We had extensive discussions over this issue with the President, at the workshop for Government Ministers and MPs held at Beruwala recently. There we came up with some suggestions.

The President and the UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha have assured that minority parties will be consulted and their views will be considered before bringing in reforms to the present electoral system.

Q: There are accusations from the international community that the progress of resettlement is unsatisfactory. Will it be possible to resettle all IDPs before the end of this year as pledged by the Government?

Yes, it is possible. Only about 28,000 families remain in transit camps now.We resettle over 2000 families per week. Once they are resettled their basic needs will be looked after by line ministries and some NGOs and INGOs.

Some people say they have nothing. It should be understood that we can't provide everything within three months. The project to build 50,000 houses by the Indian Government is now in progress.

We are negotiating a soft loan scheme for houses with the Housing Ministry headed by Minister Wimal Weerawansa. This will be put before the Cabinet for approval shortly.

Restoration of livelihoods of resettlers is another key project. Some of the resettlers have already returned to their traditional fishing trade.

Some have taken up to farming. The restrictions on fishing have been completely done away with. Now there are no barriers for fishermen to continue with their trade around the clock. The biggest project to revive infrastructure in the North will get off the ground in January next year. The Eastern Revival was a big success, now we are concentrating on the North.

Q: There is an allegation that the Government has sidelined you and KP has taken the centre stage?

A: That is not true. KP is a different matter. My role in the Government is different from his. He is helping the state to channel diaspora funding for Northern development activities. It was a government decision.

KP is from the North. I am from the East. We have different roles to play. I have not been affected by his involvement. In fact I have a mandate given by the state.

Along with my Minister Milroy Fernando we have been allocated a large sum of money to look after the IDPs and make our contribution in the development drive.

Q: Have you been able to address the issues with regard to the High Security Zones?

A: Over 68,000 families in Jaffna are from HSZs.

They have been living elsewhere, with their relatives and friends for the past 20-25 years.

We are making arrangements to release some of the land gradually. But we may have to permanently relocate some families in other areas.