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by Jatila Karawita and Ananda Kannangara

Professor Venerable Kamburugamuwe Vajira Thera airing his views told the Daily News the time had come for the people to conclude that the United National Party no longer served the interests of Sri Lanka.

He was among eminent Buddhist monks, leading politicians and trade unionists who denounced the conspiracy hatched by former UNP MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene and LTTE political leader Tamil Chelvam, the details of which were revealed by Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Wednesday.

They stressed that such tactics only paved the way for the LTTE to achieve their desired goal of 'Eelam' and advised the people to have faith in the PA government of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

Venerable Vajira Thera said that it was up to the people to decide the future course of the country and urged the people to rally behind President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to defeat the LTTE and the reactionary forces in the South.

Commenting on the statement made by Minister Mangala Samaraweera yesterday on the UNP- LTTE alliance Ven. Horana Sumeda Thera said that Sri Lankans could boast of a civilisation of more than 2500 years and it was saddening to note that some politicians were resorting to secret pacts with the murderous Tigers to divide this small country.

"Therefore we categorically condemn this idea", Ven. Thera said.

An accountant in a leading mercantile firm in Bambalapitiya, Ranjith Senanayaka said that this country could not belong to any single individual.

"Ours is a small island which belongs to all communities living here. Therefore no one should be allowed to divide this land and handover even a square inch to the LTTE Tigers who killed thousands of innocent Sri Lankans during the past two decades".

"The Tigers also destroyed property worth millions and other resources," he said.

He said their sole aim was to gain power with the connivance of the LTTE and the exchange of bogus letters on the sly between former UNP MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene, and LTTE political leader Tamil Chelvam was clear proof of that connection.

Tilak Karunaratne, leader of the Sihala Urumaya said they needed more time to study the exposure of a conspiracy between the LTTE and the UNP through the exchange of letters between Jayalath Jayawardene and Tamil Chelvam.

He said that the People's Alliance also had entered into a pact with the Tigers and called on the government to reveal its contents before the people.

Karunarathne was of the view that only the Sihala Urumaya was capable of ending the North East terrorism and neither the PA, UNP nor the so-called third force the JVP had a solution to the ethnic conflict.

Government Services Employees Union President W. H. Piyadasa said that the UNP's political future would be decided on by the people in the upcoming election and that all workers be they of the public or private sectors would get together to rout the UNP in order to protect the unitary State of Sri Lanka.

Hemakeerthi Bandara of the Mid Country Farmer's Planning Unit also voiced similar views and urged the public to defeat the UNP and extend the duration of the PA government if terrorism was to be totally wiped out from the face of this land.

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