While stressing that they chose to back General Sarath Fonseka at the forthcoming presidential election Tilvin Silva, General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insisted that they will never let UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe become the Prime Minister of the caretaker government as reported in the media. Following are the excerpts from an interview with The Nation

By Gagani Weerakoon
Q: The JVP has decided to support former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka at the forthcoming presidential election. On what basis you decided to support him?
A: The President called a Presidential election two years in advance with the intention of making use of the war victory. At the moment the democracy of the country is dilapidated and corruption and waste are the things that could be witnessed at large. When we decided on Gen. Fonseka, our main objective was to re-establish democracy in the country.
We had several rounds of talks with the General and reached an understanding with him that if he won the Presidency he would take steps to abolish the executive presidency, reconstitute the 17th Amendment and establish independent commissions, and will solve the issues faced by displaced civilians in the North immediately.
The abolishing of the executive presidency is the prime condition. Today, all the powers are President-centred. The Cabinet is virtually powerless in such a situation. The President has reserved for himself the power to handle economic nerve centres.
In keeping with the agreement, General Fonseka is required to form a caretaker government and take measures to conduct the general election in an atmosphere where democracy would prevail.
At a general election conducted under such a government, people will have the chance of freely electing the representatives of their choice without fear. Through the caretaker government we plan to introduce legislation for the abolition of the executive presidency within six months of the presidential election.

Q: It is said that General Fonseka has agreed to appoint UNF leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister of the caretaker government? Did your Party too agree to this?
A: There is no truth or base for that speculation. We decided on General Fonseka mainly because he is not a representative of a recognised political party. The caretaker government will be appointed soon after the new President takes office only to perform responsibilities of a Cabinet until a general election is held. In such situation appointing a prime minister for a period of one or two months is not a necessity. Plus, we are of the opinion that there should not be a prime minister either from the JVP or the UNP.

Q: On previous occasions you entered into similar agreements and helped former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and President Mahinda Rajapaksa to come into the office. But they went back on their promise. In such a situation, why did the JVP decide to keep faith in a person for the third time also?
A: It is true that we were deceived in the previous two occasions. But that does not mean that we will fail in our third attempt. There are more than enough instances where people succeed in their third or fourth attempt even though they were knocked down in their first and second attempts. Those two did not meet their promise and that is their shamelessness. Like I said before Fonseka does not come from a strong political background or he doesn’t have a strong political party or a path like the previous two people. He cannot form a government on his own.

Q: President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently said that if any one is there to abolish the executive presidency that will be only him as none would do so in their first term in office. What do you have to say about this?
A: He says that because then he can be in politics for a few more years. That statement was merely a power centric one. What President Rajapaksa intends to do is serve for the second time, then change the constitution in a way that he will be entitled to become the executive prime minister or remain in parliament. Under the present constitution the executive president cannot contest an election after serving two terms in office. What Rajapaksa attempts to do is to change this and expand his family power in country’s politics.
We are not stupid to keep faith in a person who broke his earlier promise and help him become the executive president of this country once again.

Q: The JVP always took the lead against any kind of negative interference by the West to the country. Now, there is a widely spread speculation that General Fonseka entering into politics was highly influenced by certain Western groups. What is your opinion about this?
A: Those are mere rumours spread by the gang of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in fear that General Fonseka will win the Presidential election. We do not see any kind of such suspicious influence by the West. Even Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is a Green Card holder and Basil Rajapaksa has citizenship in the USA. General Fonseka refused the Green Card as he was not willing to testify against the government or to divulge anything with regard to the war. The only influence we see is the force of ordinary people and not the west behind General Fonseka becoming the presidential candidate against Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Q: What is the guarantee that you have to ensure the validity of a pre-election agreement once General Fonseka becomes the Executive President of the country as the Constitution itself has the supremacy?
A: What matters most is the people power more than the legal validity of an agreement. We always speak about such issues by taking past experiences in to consideration. But you have to understand this is a unique instance where a single person contesting with the support of many parties in the Opposition. In all the previous instances they came from strong political backgrounds and they had political followers as they led strong political parties in the country. Fonseka does not have such background. Plus, the Parliament has the power to change the Constitution. Political parties can get together and change the Constitution by giving executive powers either to the Parliament or to the Cabinet.

Q: The JVP was the last political party that the people of this country thought would ally with the UNP. How do you see this recent political development of your Party?
A: There are enough instances where we worked together for a common cause without being much bothered about the names we work with. For instance, we formed a probationary government with our worst opponent at the time, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga to protect the country and stop a harmful peace pact. In that government, we were able to enact the 17th Amendment. Most importantly, one should get it clear that we are not entering into any kind of alliance or even a pact with the UNP or their alliance, the UNF. If I make it clear further, we supported Mahinda Rajapaksa to take office in 2005. The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) too helped him. But the JVP and JHU never entered into any agreement. Likewise, we have decided to support General Fonseka and he can enter into any agreement with any political party to get their support. That does not say that the JVP too has to work in accordance.

Q: Is it true that there are differences within the JVP about the decision to support General Fonseka?
A: Such rumours are spread by a faction who were sacked from our party and are now facing a bankruptcy in politics with their Party’s General Secretary and National Organiser leaving the party. Other than that there are no divisions in our party as this was approved by our Central Committee.

We’ll ensure the General won’t win – Azath Salley

By Santhush Fernando
The foray into the forthcoming Presidential Election, scheduled for January 26, 2010, has aggravated with the United National Party leadership endorsing the candidacy of Gen. Sarath Fonseka while a significant number of its elected members and membership have come forward to criticise it. The Nation interviewed former Deputy Mayor of Colombo, Azath Sally, who was sacked from the UNP’s Working Committee, by Ranil Wickremesinghe for critisising the Fonseka’s candidacy.

Q: What made the UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to sack you from the Working Committee?
A: I must say that at this moment, I am the happiest person in the United National Party (UNP) as I am the first person to be thrown out from the Working Committee for raising my voice for the rights of the minorities. I am happy because I stood for the rights of the Tamil speaking masses. I was sacked because I told the truth, and I was one person who always stood for the rights of the minorities. I know for sure that the Tamil speaking community will not endorse the candidacy of Gen. Sarath Fonseka. A certain UNP MP said that Sarath Fonseka will become the next Lee Kwan Yew. Forget Lee Kwan Yew, he will become the next Hitler the world will see.

Q: Why do you oppose Gen. Fonseka’s candidacy?
A: When Gen. Fonseka made a statement that ‘Sri Lanka belongs only to the Sinhalese and minorities are merely visitors’, we vehemently opposed this racist comment. Twelve parties came together including Mangala Samaraweera, Mano Ganesan, Rauf Hakeem and Ranil Wickremesinghe’s UNP condemning Fonseka. I have the agreed document with me. What is the stance of these party leaders now? Minorities will never approve Sarath Fonseka as president and there is absolutely no chance that they will vote for him.
Sadly, the UNP members have lost all hope. UNP which is the single largest party in the country is to contest the election sans its name and party symbol, for the first time in its sixty two years of history. That is the pathetic state of our party now.

Q: But hasn’t the UNP come into a consensus with other opposition parties on a common candidate?
A: On Friday, a UNP MP said that the party had reached a consensus with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) regarding the common candidate and that the JVP had agreed to have Ranil Wickremesinghe as the executive prime minister. The very next day, the JVP came out now denouncing it, saying that never agreed to have Wickremesinghe as the premier and not even discussed about the executive prime minister. Furthermore they are saying that not only they will not be joining the alliance, they will not even speak on the alliance platform. They will never consent to giving the prime minister’s post to Wickremesinghe.
It has been sixty two years since the UNP was born but can’t we find a single person from our party, to field as our own candidate? We are really ashamed. Why is this shame? The Minority parties of the UNP have said once again to Wickremesinghe that the UNP will lose the election if they were to have Gen. Fonseka. They have told Ranil that if he cannot give leadership to an election campaign or to market himself at the forthcoming presidential election, the UNP should get someone else to contest. If not, they will have to find someone to contest on the UNP ticket.

Q: A majority of the UNP members agreed to field Gen. Fonseka in place of Ranil Wickremesinghe. Isn’t this a fact?
A: The General Secretary of the Party, Tissa Attanayake had said that in a bala mandala (branch) meeting of 400 odd UNP representatives, they were asked to decide on either Gen. Fonseka or Ranil as the presidential candidate and over 99 percent had voted to have Sarath Fonseka. If so, this clearly shows that Ranil is not fit to continue as the leader of UNP.
Wickremesinghe says he wants to remove executive presidency, as it had led to a dictatorship. Then the same applies to the UNP and he should first start removing totalitarianism from the party itself. The party is under a dictatorial rule. There’s no democracy within the UNP. Members are appointed to the Working Committee according to his own whims and fancies. Members are unable to enjoy the right to express, and raise their voice against the leadership where they think it seems fit.
Today, I have been thrown out of the party. I don’t have any regrets as I have always stood for the rights of the minorities. I have always fought for the rights of the Tamil speaking community of this country and will continue to do so. I have been getting hundreds of calls since I was thrown out of the Working Committee. People are congratulating me for standing for our rights and against the dictatorship rule within our party. Even from overseas I have been receiving calls during the last 24 hours. Everybody is appreciating the stance I took, and I can truly say that at this moment, I am the happiest person in the UNP.

Q: UNP has always known to be a party for people from all races, castes and creeds. It has always has had an emphasis for the rights of the minorities and they could always look up to the party leadership. Do you believe that minorities especially the Tamils and the Muslims can look up to the current UNP leadership?
A: This is my problem too. This is the party created by Prime Minister D S Senanayake- the father of our nation. The UNP which he set up accommodated people from all walks of life. But that has changed since 1994; since the day Wickremesinghe took the helm of the Party. There’s no United National Party any more. It is a divided national party, now. There’s no democracy since he took up party leadership. There’s no accommodation of any other’s opinion. At every Working Committee meeting he does only what he wants.

He can’t introduce democracy to the UNP because he would be ousted from party leadership the very minute he does so. There’s no dictatorial party leader like him anywhere in this world. For instance current United States President Barak Obama, in order to win Party candidacy went all over. Where a leader loses elections continuously, leaders in other countries have stepped down. That is true democracy.

However our leader has lost 22 elections in a row! During the entire history of the UNP we have never ever faced such a shameful situation as party members. Ours is the country’s single largest party. We have ruled this nation for 17 years and have lost elections like this. At this rate we will never be able to win again.
The UNP has seen all previous records been broken during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s leadership. We have seen the highest number of Parliamentarians crossing over and losing the most number of elections only during his period.

Q: What is the rationale behind your argument that Gen. Fonseka is not fit to become President?
A: If one were to become the head of the state you must be able to talk to the leader. Can you speak to this military leader? How can he rule this country as its President? We will have nothing but a military regime. Not only Sri Lanka will be destabilised, the whole region will be faced with a major threat.
At this moment, the entire business community along with investors are tearing because they are unable to invest for the future of the economy and the country, because of this new threat. What our country will see would be a military rule and not a civil rule. Not only the minorities but everyone will endorse my view. So I call upon all minority Parliamentarians, Provincial Councilors, Municipal and Urban Councilors and Pradeshiya Sabha members to come forth and join hands with us. I call everyone from the Tamil-speaking community to come forward. I can say this for sure. That the minorities will never endorse the candidacy of Gen. Sarath Fonseka and he can never win the forthcoming Presidential Elections.

Q: In your view, what are the reasons for the UNP to back Gen. Fonseka?
A: Ranil Wickremesinghe has always being Pro-American and has been right throughout endorsing US policies. All of us know that Gen. Fonseka has become the next political mule, by entering politics. Although he pledged never to enter politics, Gen. Fonseka changed his policy after travellling to the United States. Most Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), European and US quarters had endorsed the General’s candidacy. That is why Ranil Wickremesinghe who wanted to contest withdrew during the last minute and is now seen canvassing for Gen. Fonseka.

Wickremesinghe’s right hand man-Vajira Abeywardene right along said and I quote, “I am against Sarath, I will vote only for Ranil”. What is his stance now? Dr. Ranjith Atapattu insisted that he will never ever agree for any alliance whatsoever and never would approve of the elephant symbol being replaced. Now what does he have to say?

Q: From what you have learnt, would the UNP at its grass-root levels, vote for Gen. Fonseka?
A: The UNP, after 62 years, for the first time in its history, will not see a candidate contesting from the party. For the first time in its existence, the Party will not have the ‘United National Party’ as the party name and the UNP voters will not be able to vote for the elephant symbol, this time.
At the Presidential Election, UNP voters will be shocked to see the ballot paper without the Elephant. You see the majority of the voters of UNP are not educated. The UNP is not like the Freedom Alliance. PA has had their symbols changed but never have we changed our symbol. Even S B Dissanayake had said that we will face severe problems in getting the votes of the minorities, and Lakshman Senevirathne who had onetime contested from the Democratic United National Front (DUNF) had stated that when he went to canvass for the DUNF, people told him not to come from any other party but the UNP.

Q: What are you hoping to do to avert this crisis situation?
A: We will see whether the people are with me or Ranil. We will ensure that the Tamils and Muslims will not vote for Gen. Fonseka. My campaign will be against Sarath Fonseka. We are discussing with other minority parties such as the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and can never say, we too may field a common candidate.
My role will be to ensure that Sarath Fonseka is not elected at any cost. If he becomes President he will not heed anybody’s word, not even Ranil’s. I know the entire UNP is with us, and I will prove that the minorities will not vote for Fonseka.

Q: In the event of Gen. Fonseka being elected as President, what will become of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s plan of becoming the executive premier?
A: Neither the JVP nor the UNP will be able to go according to their own plans if Fonseka is elected, because we will see another Hitler, another dictator in this country. He only knows military strategy and not how to govern a country.

If you recollect, in his speech at the Presidential Secretariat, Fonseka said that our country faced this bloody civil war since Ranil had given weapons to the Tigers. He called Ranil a traitor and now he has joined the group he himself called traitors. What a short period it took for him to change his stance?

We recently saw Ranil hugging Gen. Sarath Fonseka. It shows that in this country, anything can happen and anything is possible. Same Sarath Fonseka who bashed the UNP then, has joined it within just six months after the war. Ranil, Mangala, Rauff and Mano who criticised him half a year back are endorsing him now. Recently Ranil has selected and handpicked his confidantes to attend a function hosted by Gen. Sarath Fonseka. Everyone in the UNP is very sad about the present state of affairs of the party. No other leader has disgraced the UNP and its membership as Ranil Wickremesinghe has done.

Q: In your perspective what will become of the UNP, if Gen. Fonseka loses the election?
A: Whether Gen. Sarath Fonseka wins or loses the UNP is now completely destroyed. There’s absolutely no future; no hope for the UNP now, as it stands today. Ranil Wickremesinghe was seen on television ordering the UNP members to vote for Gen. Sarath Fonseka during the forthcoming presidential election. Who is he to order us?

The UNP members are not fools and are not ready to accept this at all. The whole membership of the UNP is ashamed of him and the whole party will be destroyed in spite of the fact whether Gen. Fonseka wins or loses. But our role is to ensure that he’s not elected and I call upon all in the UNP and among minorities to join me in our struggle against him.