UNP-D willing to forego ministerial posts if UNP supports Govt

Nadira Gunatilleke

The UNP-D Group is ready to sacrifice ministerial posts if the UNP supports the Government responding to the request made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa for all political parties to join the Government, Special Projects Minister Mahinda Wijesekara said.

“We have to have a country to do politics and a country was not there when we joined the Government. There was only a part of the country but since we have the East we have a country. We joined with the Government accepting the six facts mentioned in the agreement signed between the UNP and the Government,” Wijesekara told a media briefing yesterday.

Minister Wijesekara said that no one can defeat the Government in the coming budget and there is no need to do so.

“If someone does it that will put the country in great danger because the country is facing a national threat. We joined the Government to support Mahinda Chinthanaya and submit more proposals to Mahinda Chinthanaya and not to accept the whole thing,” he added.

“We did it because we saw that the county can walk a long way forward with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and we did not receive democracy from the UNP leader. Earlier the Opposition Leader agreed to support the Government but now he is not willing to do it because of the greed for power. No one including the Opposition Leader will be able to stop the US$ 500 million loan.

Expressing his views on the ethnic conflict of Sri Lanka, Minister Wijesekara said that Prabhakaran will never be able to come out from his hiding place because he has killed a unlimited number of Tamil people. He will never be able to lead a normal life.