There are no results from the development work carried out so far
Given the present situation empowering Parliament is not a solution
If there is anyone choosing Ranil Wickremesinghe at this time he should be a fool
The appointing of a wrong person as the president does not change his character
The majority of parliamentarians are weak
There is no decision as to what to do after winning the no confidence motion
Forming a minority government is the easiest
There are ongoing protests around the country against politicians who are thriving despite the economic hardships people go through every day. None of these protests has opened the eyes of politicians. Samagi Jana Balawegaya Chairman Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka is prepared to come forward to save the country, which is reaching a state of anarchy. This is an interview done with Fonseka on the present situation of the country.
Q Massive protests are being held countrywide. People have taken to the streets due to lack of food. No political party lends an ear to their problems. People say no to the 225 members of Parliament. What is your definition of the current issue?
The current crisis is as a result of the behaviours of the politicians of the past governments and it aggravated during the Rajapaksa rule. Unnecessary projects were launched after 2010. The authorities thrived on commissions. Leaders of the Government that held office from 2015-2019 did not want to correct those mistakes. They had no intention of enforcing the law at least to recover the stolen funds. The current situation is its result. The present Government is also heading towards corruption. Parliamentarians are well-prepared for that. The president is also with them. This issue intensified due to inefficiency and the poor decision making of the Government.
Q Corruption and fraud have increased since 1977 and no one can escape these allegations, right?
Corruption and fraud began to increase from 1977. Even though the governments of JR’s or Premadasa’s were not hugely engaged in stealing the foundation was laid for a corrupted political culture. Following in these footsteps corrupted individuals like racketeers, drug dealers and illegal miners entered Parliament. People became poor over a period of time. They worshipped politicians. Today people are suppressed from every side and this is felt intensely. This has infuriated the people. Casting the vote for a bottle of alcohol, a packet of rice or other privileges made the country go in another direction.
Q Embezzlement is practised under the guise of development. This issue aggravated as people did not receive the benefits of development. Do you agree?
A country needs development, but only the necessary steps should be taken. There are no results from the development work carried out so far. Our country is a paradise for tourism. But instead, useless projects such as ports, airports and towers were constructed and nothing was done towards developing tourism. The Central Expressway is being constructed with the funds generated by leasing Hambantota port. A sum of 1.2 billion US$ was wasted and misused. Our country lacks financial regulation. Monies do not end up in the right places. There is no transparency. The so-called great Parliament gives approval to these activities. The Yahapalana Government did nothing to correct them. Its two leaders did nothing. Even though Maithripala Sirisena is an experienced minister, he has no great personality to administer a wide area such as a country. Ranil Wickremasinghe believes there is no one superior to him with economic knowledge. He also could not manage the funds well. He spent them unwisely. Despite holding office as the PM five times, he could not increase production, create ways to generate foreign exchange and appreciate the rupee. There is something wrong with the political system. It only led towards increasing poverty. Racketeers became powerful and people became helpless. Rulers divided into groups to assume power and bankrupted the country.
Q Now people refuse not only the two parties, but also the 225 MPs. The ruling party or the opposition party has not given any solution to their problems and there is no plan to solve the problems, is it not?
This is my opinion. Today all the parties are working together. Even though democracy is said to exist everyone approves any proposal that’s forwarded. Given the present situation empowering Parliament is not a solution. 90% of the parliamentarians are corrupted. Empowering it is not a solution to problems of the people. Some have degrees and some do not have brains. There is no democracy though claims are made in Parliament that it exists. There are only money-minded racketeers. We cannot hope for a political culture through Parliament. I believe the country should have a good leader. In some countries leaders did not loiter after gaining power. Parliamentarians who stole were put behind bars for stealing public funds. We want a leader like that. The future will showcase the belief of people; whether we have such a leader at present or not. A powerful person should be chosen as the president of the country.
Now people have taken to the streets to chase away Gotabaya Rajapaksa who claimed to be such a personality. People do not have faith in any leader at present.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected to do a systematic change. However that did not happen. If a school principal is ousted for stealing and engaging in corruption that does not mean the position should be abolished. What must be done is to appoint a better principal. On the basis that the previous presidents did not work well, we should consider our options. Most powerful countries in the world such as America, Russia and France are ruled by presidents. There is an opinion in our country that the presidency should be abolished as the previous presidents committed mistakes. Cannot the PM commit a mistake? Did the activities of Ranil Wickremesinghe- with his henchmen when he was the PM- do any good to the country? If a president breaches and abuses laws, abolishing his office and appointing the next in line as the PM is not right. The appointing of a wrong person as the president does not change his character. Every parliamentarian will back him up and will approve everything he says. Therefore abolishing posts and changing the constitution will not help the country. An honest, dedicated and intelligent person should become the leader of the country.
Q You are of the opinion that the Executive Presidency should not be abolished?
I do not believe that abolishing the executive presidency can help this country or do any good to this country. Retaining the presidency is not a disadvantage either. A president should have a national policy when ruling a country. To achieve this an honest person should be in the chair. The support of educated and intelligent people should be sought and a team should be formed for him. He should select skilled ministers and ministerial secretaries. If the presidency is abolished and the power goes to the PM, he gets to choose ministers and he would continue to rule. There were allegations that Madame Sirima ruled the country with Felix Dias Bandaranaike in an autocratic manner. That was why Sri Lanka Freedom Party was ruined in 77. Therefore changing positions does not change the country. Those who seek those positions should be changed.
Q Samagi Jana Balawegaya maintains that the Executive Presidency should be abolished completely. Does it not become hard then to refrain from agreeing to the resolution of the party?
There is no such rule. I believe I am safeguarding my democracy. No one can force me. Even though decisions are made as a party some people can refrain from voting. If a decision is taken to remove someone from the party on the basis of refraining to vote, we should be ready to face such situations.
Q Other parties put forward conditions to support the no confidence motion. Can this motion secure votes in the event new problems crop up?
We will support for the no confidence vote. I believe we can win this as we only need 113 votes. However no one in Parliament has taken a firm decision regarding the next step. No one has a fixed opinion. Even though discussions are held decisions are yet to be taken. The majority of parliamentarians are weak. Even a minister only tries to spend the money allocated by the Finance Ministry. No one ever does anything beneficial to the country. They boast to the media but they are slow and do not take proper decisions. There is no decision as to what to do after winning the no confidence motion. Our party also believes that we need a majority to form a government. I do not agree with that. If we can secure the numbers we should set up a government with a minority. We created a minority government in 2015. With good understanding there should be an interim government for a year. We should have one opinion with the support of others. This is for the country. People should be given that promise. Even with those who are left the Government we still have a minority. We have 45 and retaining 113 is difficult. Therefore forming a minority government is the easiest. Agreements should be entered into and should be made available to the public and we should take up this challenge. We do not get power when the country is developed. We only receive power when the country is failing because of the inability of the Government. If we are afraid to take power, there is no use of us remaining in the opposition. Most countries were developed when they were at the brink of destruction.
Q Is there someone to accept the leadership you are suggesting?
Sajith Premadasa should accept the leadership.
Q There is a social opinion that Sajith cannot rule the country. Can he then win the challenges when developing the country?
Despite having such an opinion he is now the opposition leader. According to the Constitution he should be the first to accept that challenge.
Q People say if Sarath Fonseka assumes power he would develop the country, arrest thieves and recover the stolen properties while putting offenders behind bars.
That is another story.
Q Are you also a leader afraid of accepting challenges?
I am not afraid to accept challenges. I have proven myself to the people by ending a thirty-year war. But according to the available procedure the opposition leader should accept the challenge. If he fails people should take other decisions. He should have the faith in the people somehow. If there is an opinion in society as you claim it is a huge issue. I cannot act as Robin Hood against all the available practices. If not the protestors should choose a leader. That happened in Arab. When a leader emerges from a protest, he should be ready to face various challenges.
Q The Government does not pay attention to the protests because of the absence of a leader. For the protest to succeed from now onwards there should be a leader. Are you willing to head the protests?
If that is the requirement of the country and if the country is pushed to take that decision, I am no coward to say no. If the country asks for such measures and people line up, I will listen to them. I am not afraid of challenges. I took charge of the war and put an end to it. Therefore I can save the country. 90% of generals refused to carry out the war. The Government was unwilling as well. I accepted the challenge and sacrificed myself. The current situation of the country also requires a sacrifice amidst challenges.
Q It seems that Samagi Jana Balawegaya is likely to divide instead of accepting the challenges of the country. Is Ranil Wickremasinghe behind this?
If there is anyone choosing Ranil Wickremasinghe at this time he should be a fool. He is not a sinking ship. He is more like a boat with the bottom damaged, sunk and buried in the mud. Going for someone like him is political suicide.
Q Is it right that there is a division within the party?
Members of the party have different views. But we go forward with unity as without the party we have no future. Everyone will become political orphans. Then the plan to develop the country will see no progress. Letting the protests solve every issue is no solution. We also should create an environment required to oust this Government. That is how it becomes possible to see victory for the protests. We have a responsibility for that. Therefore Samagi Jana Balawegaya should exist and should make the people win.
Q Many countries where military personnel became leaders have developed today. An ex-military officer and former defence secretary of the country pushed our country to this turmoil by trying to overdo himself. What can be the reason for that?
Mahinda Rajapaksa has emerged by being in politics for a long time. Public leaders can either order to carry out wars or to stop them. A public leader cannot operate a war or plan war tactics and give orders to officers in uniform. A public leader only has a political duty. Defence secretary is there only to administrate just like other secretaries. These people did their duties during the war. Then they proceeded to claim its victory. Some people were deceived by them. I was granted funds for the war when I made a request. When I wanted weapons they obtained them from China on credit. They did those duties. Now we witness the effects of deceiving the people. They are changing the history and making claims that the war was operated by a secretary. They cannot do this forever.
Q Were there issues when working with Rajapaksa brothers during the war?
I had no issues. I got everything I asked for. Sometimes when the Defence Secretary failed to raise money for the war it was sought from Basil Rajapaksa. 82 billion rupees were allocated yearly for the Army. I increased the strength of the Army by another 200,000 and operated the army with the same budget. We purchased weapons costing billions. Had I followed the recent events, I would have secured 2-3 houses in England. I did not even buy a thatch house.
Q Tiran Alles once made a controversial statement that the Rajapaksas provided the LTTE with money during the war. His statement said that Basil Rajapaksa had given Prabhakaran money through Emil Kanthan and the Rajapaksas had said that there was no need for a war, but should be solved through discussions and Sarath Fonseka was the only one in need of a war as he was crazy. Did the Rajapaksas give money to the LTTE? Were you aware of that?
Perhaps Tiran Alles will reaffirm those matters. He is now in the anti-government camp. He made his statement in 2010. Basil Rajapaksa told me the same. During the 2005 Presidential Elections Prabhakaran promised the Rajapaksas to halt the voting in the North based on their request for the fear Ranil Wickremasinghe may get those votes. The Rajapaksas inquired from Prabhakaran what they should do in return of that favour. Prabhakaran asked for two million dollars for some boats he ordered in Malaysia. Basil Rajapaksa said that the two million dollars they got for the election from India were sent to Prabhakaran through Emil Kanthan. That is what Tiran Alles said. They established a connection with Emil Kanthan through him. The 2005 ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ says that Mahinda will personally meet with Prabhakaran to solve the matters through discussions and that he refuses to go to war.
Q How were you able to head the war that was disliked by the Rajapaksas?
The war started in 2006. The LTTE closed Mavil Aru on July 22, 2006 when I was hospitalised in Singapore; because I was a victim of a bomb attack. As soon as I heard the news I returned to Sri Lanka. I was still recovering then. When Mavil Aru was closed Minister Champika Ranawaka went to the Rajapaksas to ask them to liberate the anicut. Nanda Mallawarachchi was appointed as the Acting Army Commander. He was a batchmate of the present president when he was in the Army and his best friend. When the Rajapaksas asked him whether it was possible to start an operation, he had refused claiming that he lacked the numbers. When Ranawaka forced them to start an operation they had replied by asking with what were they to attack the LTTE with? Back then Mahinda Rajapaksa had no intention of starting a war. I returned to Sri Lanka and spoke with Gotabaya and the Eastern commanding officer. I contacted Gotabaya again to inform that we will fight to save Mavil Aru. The Rajapaksas agreed and that was how the war started. No orders were given at any time. The war began following my intentions.
Q Sajith said that he would appoint you as the defence minister and give you the responsibility of public security. If your party receives government powers, how long would it take to arrest thieves and recover the stolen properties?
Our leader said on stage and informed me that he would appoint me as the defence minister with all the powers on public security. I also repeated what he said. But recently at a discussion, with an organization, at the opposition leader’s office, he said he would not let a politician deal with corruption and bring offenders before the law but would establish an independent committee to prevent corruption through that. He said so in public and I was a participant of the discussion.
Q Did he inform you of these matters before the discussions?
I am yet to hear of an explanation from him on this regards. I have a question whether independent committees can prevent corruption in the country and decide on punishments as none of the current independent committees are actually independent. If I were to receive powers I would surely do my duties and give the maximum punishments to offenders of the Easter Sunday attack.
Q How long will it take for you to get the country back on track once dealing with corruption?
I do not think it will take that long. Several state institutions are corrupted. For example the Inland Revenue Department does not receive the due revenues. Therefore the income of the Government has reduced. The Customs does not receive its income. The same problem exists in many institutions including the Motor Department. These institutions should be reformed first. Anyone attempting to embezzle will have to face the consequences.
On the other hand, the available laws are not sufficient to punish the thieves and the corrupted. They have to be updated and this is a huge challenge. But it is necessary and will take 1-2 years. But I will certainly do that and surely punish thieves and the corrupted. I will develop the country and I have a plan in my mind which I cannot disclose at the moment.
Q It seems that arresting thieves through Samagi Jana Balawegaya might not work either. Then it will become difficult to serve the people who make requests to you. If so are you prepared to come as a common candidate to accept the leadership and fulfill people’s wishes?
Our party has an agreement that there will be no common candidate. We will only bring a candidate from our party. But if the other parties of the opposition support us he would become a common candidate. That resolution should be presented from our party. Due to the behaviour of Maithripala Sirisena the idea of the common candidate became a curse to the country. The party has a method to select a candidate which decides on everything else.
