Our support to Govt necessary - UNP(D) Group

Rasika SOMARATHNA

Colombo: The progr- ess made so far by the Government in defeating terrorism, finding a viable solution to the national question and ushering economic prosperity to the country is there for every body to see, and our continued presence is necessary to strengthen the Government hand in guiding the country towards these noble goals the UNP(D) Group told media yesterday.

Eleven members of the group who addressed the media at the Information Department said that in the absence of their prodigal leader, who returned back to the UNP fold, the rest of the team had taken a unanimous decision to extend continued support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Government. The absence of Ministers and key UNP(D) Group members Milinda Moragoda, Navin Dissanayake,

Hemakumara Nanayakkara, G.L. Pieris and Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene from the media briefing was due to unavoidable official commitments Minister P. Dayarathne explained.

During the same briefing Minister of Trade and Consumer Affairs Bandula Gunewardene said that Karu Jayasuriya’s explanation for leaving the Government where he cited lack of economic development did not hold water as the Government had recorded impressive economic indicators despite a global economic melt down.

The Minister pointed out that Sri Lanka’s present unemployment ratio was 5.8% which was even lower than the current figures in the US and the annual development growth rate had exceeded 6% on a continued basis.

The UNP(D) Group further said that in any future election the group would participate as an ally of the UPFA.

Excerpts from speeches made by some of the UNP(D) front liners at yesterdays media briefing,

Minister of Supplementary Crops Development, Dharmadasa Banda: Two years ago 18 of us formed a group and signed a MOU with the Government. However today our leader Karu Jayasuriya has left the party at an unexpected time, but the rest of us would continue to lend our fullest support to the Government to achieve peace and prosperity to the country.

Minister of Plan Implementation P. Dayarathne:

The UNP lost many elections because it could not face polls with an effective plan. Later we agreed to support the Government and signed a MOU which did not last long. Later after repeated appeals failed, a group of us decided to lend support to the Government for the greater good of the nation. Our support at that time helped the Government to achieve a clear majority in Parliament. I have 25 years of experience in politics and has been the only Sinhala member to represent Parliament from East on a long time basis. Thus as a Parliamentarian who represents an area which has been directly affected by the three decade long conflict I am very pleased with the President’s efforts to defeat terrorism and usher lasting peace. To this end we will lend our fullest support to this Government.

Minister of Sports and Public re-creation, Gamini Lokuge: After the Mavil Aru incident we told Ranil Wickremesinghe that we should lend our support to the Government as the main Opposition in the country in order to defeat terrorism. But this did not materialise and later we continued to struggle within the UNP to amend the party constitution to give greater autonomy, which too was undermined by the leadership. Thus we formed the UNP(D) Group to support Government as we had no other option as politicians who put the country first. I only knew about our leaders decision to rejoin UNP at the last moment. But he has left an incompleted task and the rest of the group has no intention in abandoning that responsibility. Both major parties at the moment should get together for the greater good of the nation.

Minister of Special Projects, Mahinda Wijesekera: The UNP Leader lured Karu Jayasuriya with the Deputy Leaders post to quash infighting within the UNP ranks for the newly created posts. The UNP constitution is dictatorial and it does not provide room for people oriented and democratic governance. Thus the UNP has suffered repeated electoral defeats and the party has no idea where it is heading at present.

Minister of Trade and Consumer Affairs, Bandula Gunewardene: This Government has had to face multiple challenges which no other Government since independence had to face in Sri Lanka. But still it has emerged unscathed due to the effective leadership provided by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Our economy has done reasonably well despite a global crisis. As a group we are ready to make any sacrifice to support this Government.

Minister of Construction and Engineering Services Rajitha Senarathne: Karu Jayasuriya told me that the decision to rejoin UNP was a personal one. He wrote a letter to the President the day before where he expressed satisfactory views regarding the economy and efforts to defeat terrorism. But today in his letter to the media he has expressed differing views.

This letter is a product of Ranil’s media group and it does not even have Jayasuriya’s signature. Karu Jayasuriya personally told me that President was a better leader than Ranil Wickremesinghe who was more sensitive to difficulties faced by the masses.

These days we are holding talks with two different UNP groups with the view of arming the Government with a two thirds majority.