SLFP General Secretary and Agriculture Minister Maithripala Sirisena says President Mahinda Rajapaksa will win the January 26 election by securing more than 65 per recent of the vote.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, he also says the executive presidency is a boon to the country and the candidature of General Sarath Fonseka is a political mockery. Excerpts:
What are the highlights of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s new policy statement?
This one will also be known as Mahinda Chintanaya. We can call it MC-2. It will concentrate on economic development. We started a ten-year development plan in 2007 and this will continue. In spite of the war, we continued our development work in the past four years. The war is over now, but in the coming years we have to pay for the weapons we bought. While doing that, we will embark on development work.
Does the policy document contain a political solution to the national problem?
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution provides us with a framework to devolve power. We have set up the Provincial Council in the Eastern Province and it is functioning. By the middle of next year, we will hold elections to the Northern Provincial Council.
Once this council is in operation, we will monitor its functioning and if there are any drawbacks we will bring about necessary measures to address them. Even President J.R. Jayewardene who introduced the PC system could not implement it properly in the north. So by mid 2010, we will hold the PC elections there and then we will take the necessary steps to address the shortcomings.
There are reports that General Sarath Fonseka’s campaign is gaining ground. Are you worried?
The Fonseka campaign is a bankrupt one. He had his inaugural meeting near the Kandy market. If he was so confident of drawing crowds, he should have had it at the Bogambara grounds. His campaign is called the second operation and is being conducted with a war mentality. Therefore, a person with a war mentality can never achieve a political victory.
He says he will clean up the garbage in the government. How can he do that when he is on top of the biggest heap of garbage? The UNP is the party that introduced the worst kind of corrupt practices to politics. If you look at the 2001-2004 Ranil Wickremesinghe government, it was during this time that the corrupt practices exposed by the COPE report of Wijedasa Rajapakse took place. The President’s campaign will kick off with new vigour next week. Fonseka will break the records for the worst loser in the election history of this country. He does not pose any challenge to President Rajapaksa.
What percentage of the votes are you expecting the President to get?
The President will definitely get more than 65 percent of the vote.
It seems the Government is trying to make political capital out of the remarks made by General Fonseka to a Sunday newspaper regarding the attempt by some LTTE leaders to surrender?
The Government is not trying to make political capital out of his remarks but because of what he has said the government has to face a serious problem with regard to safeguarding our soldiers. The UN has sought an explanation from the government based on Fonseka’s remarks. The country which achieved a great victory has been forced to face this kind of a situation because of him. The government has to answer these charges and as we get about doing so, there is a realisation among people that Fonseka is responsible for this situation. They are turning against him. It is this trend that they are interpreting as the government trying to make political capital.
There is much criticism about the manner in which the state media are being used to support the candidature of the President. Your comments.
Why is the finger being pointed at only the state media? Private media institutions too are partial. You cannot differentiate between the state and private media. All media institutions should then be impartial. I don’t think in this country we have any media organisation that is not biased. If we are going to act, then it must be in respect of all media organisations, irrespective of whether they are state-run or privately-owned.
A large number of employees from the state sector as well as private sector are being entertained at Temple Trees by the President since the election was announced. Isn’t this an abuse of state resources?
The right to enttertain someone in one’s own house is a personal right. Why can’t I invite someone to my house and give them a meal at my own expense.
What about the use of state funds for this purpose?
This is not true. Not even five cents from state funds is used for this purpose. This is political mudslinging. These functions are being paid for by the election funds of our party. This is being used as a campaign slogan by the opposition to tarnish the image of the President.
There are reports that some seniors in the SLFP including yourself are indirectly supporting General Fonseka to be the President as you are disillusioned with the family rule of the Rajapaksas?
These are all talk of the UNP/JVP election propagandists. All the seniors in the SLFP are working with total commitment in this election. Our opponents have two motives in spreading such rumours. One is to destroy our personal image and the other is to build an opinion among the people that there are differences within the government. Both these motives have failed. Falsehood cannot survive for long and very soon those spreading such rumours will be exposed.
Are there any regrets on the government side about the decision to call an early presidential election?
The election is intended to further consolidate the democratic rights of the people. A person who can rule for six years has given the people the opportunity to exercise their franchise after four years. The Constitution gives the right to the President to call an early election. The architects of this Constitution, the UNPers, are now saying they don’t want it anymore.
The Opposition says it wants to abolish the executive presidency. What is your position?
It was because of the executive presidency we were able to destroy Prabhakaran and terrorism. If not for the executive presidency we would have had to rely on Parliament. We know that in the past few years MPs have been changing sides. The power of money was used on several occasions to influence some MPs. I have been in Parliament for 21 years and am personally aware of such incidents. It is because of an executive president, who does not bend to the power of money and who takes firm decisions that terrorism was defeated. It was because of the executive presidency that we tackled the pressures from the international community.
In the future also there is a need for the executive presidency because of the political mockery that the opposition is enacting now. By putting a retired general as the presidential candidate, they are getting ready to install a military government in the country. The UNP knows that it cannot win an election. The JVP knows that it can never come to power. This is clearly a political conspiracy to pave the way for military rule by putting him forward. Today he is talking about democracy. A man who was shielded by a gun in his hands for 40 years is now talking to the people about democracy.
We have democracy in this country. Mahinda Rajapaska is a man with a clear political vision and is the kind of ruler this country needs. Idi Amin also came to power in the same manner. Hilter also came to power saying he will safeguard democracy and soon after that he killed the very people who helped bring him to power. General Fonseka is getting ready to join the generation of Hitlers and Idi Amins. |
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