Selvan will be asked to testify before PSC on “Tiger deal”

Nadira Gunatilleke and Rajmi Manatunga

COLOMBO: A request will be made to summon Thamilselvam before the Parliament Select Committee appointed to probe whether the Government did in fact fund the LTTE prior to the 2005 Presidential Election, Highways and Road Development Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle said.

Addressing the weekly press briefing held at the Government Information Department Auditorium yesterday Minister Fernandopulle said that Selvam can give evidence either through `Video conferencing’ or by sending his evidence in writing.

Thamilselvam has made a categorical statement that the LTTE received no money from the UPFA Presidential candidate prior to the 2005 poll.

The Parliament Select Committee will probe whether in fact any Government had funded the LTTE since 1989. “We have the copies of cheques related to funds given to the LTTE during UNP regime and we will produce those copies of the cheques as evidence through the Treasury. We will also summon Government officials who were involved at the time and they too will give evidence”.

Minister Fernandopulle said that it was heartening to note that the Opposition Leader was now drifting away gradually from the UNP’s original stand on a solution to the ethnic conflict and dropped its federal manthram .

“In one way this is similar to what John Kothalawala did in 1956 when he said that the UNP will make Sinhala the state language merely copying the slogan of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. John Kothalawala earlier said the Sinhala language is only useful to speak with each other and nothing else”.

This is just a ruse to fool the public, Fernandopulle added. Besides this changed stance can be termed as the first attempt by the UNP to win over the JVP because since during a meeting held in Anuradhapura JVP MP K.D. Lalkantha said that the UNP should change its stand on the war and ethnic conflict if the JVP is to consider supporting it .

The JVP also wanted fulfilment of three more demands if the UNP hoped for its support and may be the UNP will accede to all these demands.

According to page 18 of UNP’s `Janatha Nyayapathraya’ it states that it is going to introduce a Federal Solution to the ethnic conflict. Recently MP S.B. Dissanayake said that Federalism is the only solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and would be implemented by Ranil Wickremesinghe.

“Now there is a very clear contradiction between what Mr.Wickremesinghe says and what SB said on the ethnic conflict. I would like to ask the UNP leader’s stand ? Earlier the Opposition Leader was always talking about the Oslo declaration, Tokyo declaration and Bellanwila declaration but I would like to ask him what he says now?

May be he will make another declaration. “We ask the Opposition Leader whether he accepts the unitary state. Both the Opposition Leader and Thamil Selvam want the CFA and according to the CFA both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan armed forces have to revert back to their 2002 positions.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa challenged the Opposition Leader to topple the Government during the budget.” We challenge him to bring the No Confidence motion before the Budget and we are ready to even summon Parliament on a non-scheduled day and debate it.

We challenge them to take any of our Government MPs to their side”. The recent campaign carried out by the UNP to switch off mobile phones for two hours was a utter failure. I called five senior UNP MPs during those two hours and three of them answered their mobile phones.

Only Joseph Michael Perera and John Amaratunga kept their mobile phones switched off. Now the Opposition Leader says the public has to topple the Government . The UNP has tried to mislead the public by telling lies to the public about the Government and its leaders but it was the Opposition Leader who was fooled.

There will be no General Election until 2010 and the Provincial Council Election is scheduled in 2009.

The President has the power to call a Presidential Election before the due date according to J.R. Jayawardene’s constitution. At the moment Government has no desire to hold an election because there is work to be done such as eradicating terrorism, bring peace and develop the country while also bringing down COL. Unlike in other countries affected by wars,the Sri Lankan rupee is stable.