23 August 2010 10:18 am
Former Peace Secretariat Head Professor Rajiva Wijesinha today said that the ceasefire agreement (CFA) of 2001 was a good idea but yet it was a failure mainly due to then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe’s inability to integrate it.
Speaking before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) Prof. Wijesinha said that the actions of Mr. Wickremasinghe and many officials who were engaged in the CFA process, benefited the LTTE - including instances where the Peace Secretariat had provided money to the LTTE. “The Government wasn’t interested in monitoring what was done with the money that was provided. The general lack of monitoring allowed the LTTE to run riot,” he added.
He said that unlike former Presidents Premadasa and Chandrika Bandaranike Kumaranatunga, Ranil Wickremasinghe failed to realize his mistakes of being completely impawned by the LTTE. “His naïve and culpable actions during the ceasefire period turned the CFA a betrayer of all the Tamil leaders who stood against the LTTE,” he added.
Prof. Wijesinha also said that Mr. Wickremasinghe’s limited perception of the international community – that it comprises only of Western countries - and his actions provided leverage for the LTTE in the eyes of the international community which resulted in the LTTE taking advantage of the situation. “The sudden affection of the international community towards ex-Army Commander Sarath Fonseka makes it evident that their agenda towards the conflict in Sri Lanka was political throughout the years,” he said.