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JHU
ready for conditional support, but no UPFA response
Ven. Dhammaloka Thera told The Sunday Times the party had not deviated from its primary objective of bringing the two main parties together to build a nation-wide consensus on the burning problems facing the country -- the ethnic conflict and the economy. He said said that since the last General Election, the JHU had repeatedly maintained it was prepared to give conditional support to the Freedom Alliance Government. The monk said the people had given a mandate to the UPFA and the JHU would respect that mandate and would not allow the Government to be toppled at any cost. He said the JHU leadership had explained its position to President Chandrika Kumaratunga when she met them on two occasions soon after the April 2 polls. Ven. Dhammaloka Thera said the President had sought the support of the JHU in the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker and agreed to submit in writing the government's course of action, but no response has been forthcoming from the alliance since then. Although several senior UPFA Ministers including Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama had met the JHU leaders to arrive at some sort of a compromise the JHU had not received any official response from the Alliance, the Ven. Thera said. However some sections within the JHU were sceptical as to whether the latest attempt by the Government to woo the JHU was indeed genuine as the Alliance appeared to play games with the Ceylon Workers' Congress as well. The JHU believed some groups within the Government were against the UPFA getting support from the JHU. With questions arising about the stability of the Alliance itself and conflicting and contradicting views among the Alliance partners, the President, the SLFP and the JVP in particular at loggerheads the JHU leadership is fast losing faith in the government's ability to arrive at any compromise with the JHU. However Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera said if the UPFA was willing to correct itself, the Supreme Sangha Council was committed to helping the Alliance though conditionally, despite the repeated taunts by the State Media and the physical abuse on MP monks in Parliament by some Ministers. The Thera said the JHU was for peace but was not happy at the manner in which the government was proceeding with the peace process. He said the JHU was of the view that giving duty-free vehicles to the LTTE was a "childish way' of trying to entice Prabhakaran to the negotiation table. "We are not happy with the conduct of Norway as the facilitator as its actions seems biased towards the LTTE" the Thera said.. However the Thera said it was doubtful as to whether the JHU could come to an agreement with the Alliance on the National issue, as the UPFA was for devolution of power and the JHU could not agree on the ISGA proposals as it was considered a threat to the territorial integrity of the country. Commenting on the economic situation Ven. Dhammaloka Thera said Government should take necessary measures to bring down the cost of living ease the burdens on the people while helping the villages affected by the drought. The Thera said it was his hope to bow out of politics after fulfilling what the JHU set out to achieve during the last General Elections. |
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