Govt defeated conspiracy by several parties with disparate ideologies - Minister

COLOMBO: It is not surprising that former ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Suriyarachchi decided to sit in the Opposition as they were mentally in the Opposition for the last few months, Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle said.

Addressing the media yesterday, Minister Fernandopulle said the duo had secretly met Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The Minister said the Government has convincingly defeated a conspiracy hatched by the Opposition Leader to defeat the Government by bringing together several parties which held disparate views and policies.

He said Wickremesinghe was suffering from Rajapaksa phobia and was making various meaningless utterances daily. “He is always attacking the Defence Secretary. Fortunately for the Opposition Leader, the Secretary is not keen to answer his charges. These allegations are being made because he is doing a fine job.”

Fernandopulle said Wickremesinghe has tried to mislead the diplomatic community by painting a wrong picture on the human rights situation. He said he was ready to face a live TV debate on the subject of press freedom in the country. “I would also like to challenge the UNP whether they are ready to efface the country’s Sinhala-Buddhist foundation.”

Agriculture Minister Hemakumara Nanayakkara said: “Sripathi and Mangala have become partners in the Wickremesinghe’s unsuccessful attempt to grab power. Wickremesinghe lacks the foresight to be a good leader. Our group tried to rectify some of this mistakes from within. But our struggle was in vain. That is why we joined President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Opposition is representing the LTTE today. They are trying to demoralise the Security Forces. Even though the whole world knows that the Tigers are trapped in Thoppigala, Wickremesinghe says our soldiers are trapped there. There are nearly 20,000 people in lodges. The Government did not want to evict all of them. Only 300 were subject to this action.

Nation Building Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena said: “The Government can go on until 2010, and the President, till 2011. Wickremesinghe knows that he can never come to power through an election.

That is why they are hatching various conspiracies. What happened on the 19th was one such act. The UNP, TNA and the JVP tried to defeat the vote on supplementary estimates but the Government won convincingly.

We should go to the remote areas of the country. The Security Forces are fighting to preserve the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. The Opposition Leader is not supporting them. He has said that our Forces in Thoppigala are trapped. This is a serious statement.

He somehow wants to come to power. Now he is going around the world. The country’s leadership is decided by our people, not the international community. The Opposition Leader is making various statements against the Defence Secretary.”