Voters' decision on performance, attitudes of candidates

Chamikara Weerasinghe interviews former UNP heavyweight and Party District leader of the Rajarata A.M.S. Adhikari.

A.M.S. Adikari is a disillusioned man over the direction which the UNP is following at present. Following is an interview he gave the Daily News on the prospects of the party presidential candidate at the forthcoming Presidential Election.

Adhikari had been a member of the UNP for the last 40 years. He held portfolios of Deputy Minister of Land Irrigation Power and Highways, Deputy Minister of Land and Mahaweli, Minister of Tourism, Minister of Rehabilitation and Social Welfare, and Minister of Post and Telecommunications.

He represented the Kalawewa seat in the Anuradhapura District. Adhikari first entered Parliament following his victory in the Kalawewa by-election held in 1974, wresting the seat from the SLFP after 18 years.

Adhikari had served the UNP from the time of Prime Minister D.S.Senanayake to the present day leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Asked for his views on the forthcoming Presidential election, Adhikari said the poll was bound to be a very close fight. "I have doubts about the chances of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe. Not that the people hate the UNP, it is simply they don't like the leadership."

Question: Are you not being overcritical of Wickremesinghe ?

Answer: No, one simply can't compare Wickremesinghe with other UNP leaders, who had done so much to the country and its people.

Question: Are you saying that Wickremesinghe is a failure compared to other UNP leaders.

Answer: I say that his defeat started from within the party itself. When I was in Parliament, Gamini Dissanayake left the UNP and went to form the DUNF.

He came back after President Premadasa's death. He contested for the Opposition Leadership with Ranil Wickremesinghe after his return in 1994. So we held a vote. Even though Mr. Dissanayake had come back from another party Wickremesinghe was defeated by Dissanayake, who assumed the office of Opposition Leader.

Unfortunately, Dissanayake was killed in a bomb blast by the LTTE at Thotalanga and Ranil Wickremesinghe ascended the leadership of the party as a result of this killing by Prabhakaran.

UNP stalwarts Lalith Athulathmudali, R.Premadasa, Gamini Dissanayake, who were all national leaders were silenced by Prabhakaran.

Ranil became the leader of the UNP thanks to Prabhakaran. He never utters a word against Prabhakaran.

Question: How do you justify your comment that Wickremesinghe would never utter a word against Prabhakaran.

Answer: I challenge him openly to state whether he accepts or not, the decision taken by European Union to ban of LTTE members in EU countries. This is because the UNP has a secret agenda with the LTTE. The LTTE has supported the UNP at every election.

Question:How do you think the people will react to those promises already given by the candidates in the run up to Presidential Election ?

Answer: The promises given by candidates are attractive but lack credibility. However, It appears that people are more inclined to cast their vote this time upon considering the performances and the attitudes of the candidates, basically what these candidates and their parties had given them during their period of rule.

Question: What do you think they would take into consideration ?

Answer: Ranil had been in office as the Prime Minister of the country for two years. He had not done anything for his party supporters. Not a single job was given to the youth. No compensation was paid to the political victims of the UNP.

On the contrary, when you look at the SLFP, it would be discernible to them that it had taken steps to pay compensation to those who had been politically victimised under the UNP. Their victims had been paid compensation under the leadership of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. Further the SLFP Government had given jobs to the youth.

Question: What are the chief differences you see between the SLFP Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse and UNP candidate Wickremesinghe ?

Answer: Mahinda Rajapakse is not the leader of the party. He was only a minister, who became Prime Minister. In the case of UNP Leader Wickremesinghe, the situation is quite different for he had all the power to make his own decisions and map out his campaign.

Under the circumstances Mahinda cannot afford to give mere pledges to the public whereas Wickremesinghe is well placed to base his campaign on promises.

Question: Can you elaborate on this a little further ?

Answer: This will give the opportunity to Wickremesinghe to declare something like that he would give 200,000 jobs for the country's youth, when the reality is that the SLFP had already given 40,000 jobs to graduate youth within about a year.

Similarly, the SLFP had paid compensation to thousands of their party supporters who had been politically victimised by the UNP whereas the UNP has about 10,000 political victimisation cases, which have piled up at Sirikotha. Wickremesinghe had not taken steps to pay compensation to any of these cases.

Question: You speak as if he had not done anything during his office, then what about the Ceasefire Agreement ?

Answer: Yes. he signed a Ceasefire Agreement with the LTTE. That has strengthened the LTTE militarily. It has increased the power of the LTTE to engage in killings and arms deals. He also gave tax concessions during his office as Prime Minister through a Tax Amnesty Bill to benefit the rich .

Question: How do you look at the situation where parties like the JHU had joined premier Rajapakse's camp, shunning Wickremesinghe ?

Answer: It is basically because that they do not like Mr. Wickremesinghe. They are against him. The reason for this is Wickremesinghe's closeness with the LTTE and also his willingness to put the country at stake when it comes to finding a solution to the country's ethnic question.