Ranil blames LTTE for polls loss

19 January 2010 03:28 pm

Opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickramasingha, in an interview with the Europe based Tamil television GTV, blamed the LTTE for his loss in the 2005 elections. Wickramasingha also strongly refuted claims that he was behind the Karuna split from the Tigers.

“What happened in the LTTE was an internal issue which I had nothing to do with. It is very, very unfair to put the blame on me. I have always said if you have any evidence give it us,” he said in the interview.

The UNP leader recalled that he was humiliated by the LTTE and called names after losing the 2005 elections with former LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham even calling him a fox.

“The LTTE told Tamils not to vote. I would have been President otherwise. In 2005 there was a mistake (by the LTTE) and now we have to get together and resolve this issue….In 2005 you missed the opportunity,” he told the interviewer.

Wickramasingha noted that after the Mawilaru incident which resulted in an all out war being launched on the LTTE, the then Army Commander and now Presidential Candidate General Sarath Fonsek had to follow orders from the government to eliminate the Tigers within a time frame.