Navin bares second Ranil-Mangala pact

Nadira Gunatilleke

COLOMBO: Investment Promotions Minister Navin Dissanayake said no former UNP leader acted like the present party leader adding that all past leaders of the party tabled all agreements signed before Parliament so that the people got to know of their contents.

"However the present UNP leader signed several pacts with several persons and no one knows what was in them except himself and the other party who signed it," Dissanayake said.

Addressing the weekly press briefing at Seth Sevana, Colombo 5 yesterday, Dissanayake said two pacts were signed between the Opposition Leader and Mangala Samaraweera.

"The second pact had was signed on the same day at the same time at a different venue. The English version of this pact is much more descriptive than its Sinhala version. Only five persons know about this secret pact. They are Ranil, Mangala, Sripathi, Malik and editor, Sunday English newspapers," he said.

Dissanayake was of the view that all UNP members who have obtained its membership paying Rs. 5.00 has a right to know the contents of this secret pact which is known to only five persons.

This is not the only time the Opposition Leader signed such a top secret pact. On an earlier occasion he signed a similar pact with CWC Leader Arumugam Thondaman and it was kept as a secret. On another occasion he signed another pact with SLMC Leader Rauf Hakeem and there was a plan to offer four National list seats to them. The total number of National List seats allocated was only 11, he said.

Under the present Constitution there is no provision for a Deputy Prime Minister and therefore its inclusion in the Ranil-Mangala pact is a joke. According to the same pact, Samaraweera has power to decide who should and should not receive nominations from the UNP list at an election, Dissanayake said.

"At the moment there are five court cases pending and if the UNP Democratic Group wins these cases its members will be able to work in the Working Committee of the UNP continuously. If the group wins Tissa Attanayake will have to quit his post as UNP General Secretary. There is another court case against the pact signed between Ranil and Mangala," he said.