Tissa invites Premier to join Ranil
 

by E.Weerapperuma

UNP Deputy Secretary General Tissa Attanayake invited UPFA Presidential candidate Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse to join hands with UNP Presidential candidate Opposition and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as he has been the most acceptable leader to all ethnic groups.

Addressing a media conference held at the Galadari Hotel Colombo yesterday, where the Muslim National Alliance announced its decision to support the UNP leader at the forthcoming Presidential election, Attanayake said the Premier was in a dilemma, trying to get the leaders of the JVP and the JHU to appear on the same political platform.

"We challenge the Prime Minister to get the JVP and the JHU with other groups on one and the same political platform to campaign for his victory. This he cannot do because the parties he had entered into agreements hold contrary views on the ethnic question and the national economy."

As Wickremesinghe has declared his policies towards tackling these two main issues, he has become the leader most acceptable to all the communities. The Prime Minister is welcome to join our leader," he added. Muslim National Alliance (MNA) leader Hafiz Nazeer Ahmed told the media that his Alliance first wanted to contest elections as both the UNP and the SLFP did not respond to their proposals.

"Our Alliance comprises the United Muslim Party, Ashraff Congress, Democratic Unity Alliance, Sri Lanka Muslim Kachchi, United Muslim Peoples Alliance, North East Muslim Congress and Muslim United Liberation Front. We in fact wanted to contest and deposited money as we have the interests of our people at heart.

As the news went that we were determined to enter fray the UNP leader invited us for discussion. He agreed to resolve the difficulties the Muslims were experiencing, specially those living in the North and East and we decided to refrain from submitting our nominations," he said.

He observed that the as Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse had entered into a pact with chauvinist parties, they were of the view that if the SLFP-JVP-JHU combine candidate were to win it would spell doom for all minority groups, including Christians.

"We have more than 300,000 voters backing the MNA combine of seven Muslim political parties with roots deep in the soil.

We are confident that Ranil will not let us down. His past unimpeachable record is above petty differences and hence the minority groups keep flocking around him. We will work for his victory," he told the media.

The Sri Lanka Muslim Kachchi leader Abdul Rasool said that nobody should try to undermine the Muslim Community and they should not be given step-motherly treatment.

He also called the Sinhalese and Tamils to consider the Muslim community as a bridge that would build rapport between the two communities and not to look at them with suspicion.