Minister Sirisena accepts challenge

Disna MUDALIGE

Health Minister and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena yesterday said that he willingly accepts UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake’s challenge to prove his (minister’s) statement on the betrayal of Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe during the Presidential Election in 1994.

Addressing an SLFP press conference at the Mahaweli Centre, the minister stated that this fact is nothing new to those who were actively involved in the Presidential election where UNP candidate Gamini Dissanayake and PA candidate Chandrika Kumaratunga contested.

He added that he could not be responsible over the plight of the UNP in the aftermath of this disclosure in public, adding that he has no hesitation to bring out this betrayal in detail. He noted that it is an unwise challenge at the worst time from the part of the UNP.

Sirisena observed that he had made this revelation in almost all the previous presidential election campaigns since 1994, but it is only this time it received big publicity in the media.

The minister noted that after this statement he has received a number of telephone calls and letters from powerful UNP members stating that they would also like to unveil the facts they know to prove this incident. He said that the internal struggle in the UNP would turn more aggressive following the disclosure.

The minister also stated that he has written evidence including the statements of former police personnel to prove his statement. He said that he had been in charge of the unit set up to obtain secret information pertaining to the Opposition during the PA election campaign in 1994.

Responding to MP Attanayake’s statement, the minister also noted that he is proud even to be a peon in the SLFP, than being a General Secretary in the UNP, based non the political ideology he respects.

Sirisena also noted that he spoke of a political issue and not a personal issue when he referred to the conduct of the Opposition Leader at the 1994 presidential election.

Ports and Highways Deputy Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena said that the UNP leadership convinced of the defeat at the elections has centralized his powers instead of facilitating a power devolution within the party. He observed that alternative groups of the UNP are contesting the elections as independent groups to challenge their party leadership.

These groups are not competing with the government, but with the UNP. Their intention is to see a humiliating defeat for the UNP he said.

Speaking at the press conference Urban Affairs Senior Minister A H M Fowzie said that the Muslim community has joined hands with the President more than ever before, adding that 80 percent of the votes of Muslims would be received by the UPFA at the upcoming Provincial Council elections.