Published: 22nd April 2015 06:00 AM
Last Updated: 22nd April 2015 08:04 AM
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s once powerful Defence Secretary,
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, wants President Maithripala Sirisena and former President
Mahinda Rajapaksa to join hands to give the island nation a “functioning
government” and lift it from the abyss of political confusion and economic
stagnation.
“Maithripala Sirisena has been elected President for six
years. Therefore, he will have to continue. But he can quickly call for parliamentary
elections and appoint Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister. Together, they
should put the country back on its feet by providing a functioning government
with people committed to achieving goals,” Gotabaya told Express in an
exclusive interview on Tuesday.
A sibling of Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya claimed that Sri
Lankans want Rajapaksa back. “Support for him has grown beyond the 5.8 million
votes he got in the January Presidential election,” he said.
Political Confusion
Sri Lankans are clueless as to who is in charge of their
country, Gotabaya observed.
“On the one hand there is Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe who is running the government. But on the other hand, Chandrika
Kumaratunga, Champika Ranawaka and Rajitha Senaratne also claim to be
in-charge. However, what is clear to the people is that there is no functioning
government. All economic development projects initiated by the Rajapaksa
government have been brought to a standstil. In the construction sector alone,
over 100,000 workers have been rendered jobless by the stoppage of projects,”
he pointed out.
Because officials are being hauled up before investigative
agencies for alleged “procedural lapses”, no civil servant wants to take
decisions. “If this situation is allowed
to continue, the entire economy will collapse and it will be difficult to put
it back on its feet,” he warned.
Baseless Charges
Gotabaya, who has been asked to appear before the Bribery
Commission later this month, dismissed the charges against him as being
baseless. “I have been accused of procedural lapses. Have I robbed money? In
fact, I have earned money, including foreign exchange, for the government
through my projects,” he asserted.
On the alleged illegal activities of the “floating armory”
set up by a company wholly owned by the Ministry of Defence, Gotabaya said that
it was engaged in anti-piracy work in the Somalian waters as per a UN request.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa
“It was an international obligation Lanka had to fulfil. And
the company was earning foreign exchange for the country. It had also been held
up as a model by an international maritime security body based in UK,” he said.
Achievements
The former Secretary for Defence and Urban Development said
that he had not only won the war against the Tamil Tigers but had given a new
face to Colombo, both not done by previous regimes. “The present government is
after me for delivering results. Sarath Fonseka claimed in India that he won
the war. But I say, he was in the army for 30 years, but had failed to win the
war. It was only when we (the Rajapaksa brothers) took over, that the war was
finished, and that too, in three years flat. Chandrika Kumaratunga claims that
she had won 75 per cent of the war, but it was during her Presidency that there
were major reverses,” Gotabaya recalled.
Bribe Panel Member to go to Ex-Prez
The Lankan government on Tuesday gave into the Opposition’s
agitation demanding that ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa should not be summoned
by the Bribery Commission. Wijedasa Rajapaksa, minister for justice, told
parliament that a commission officer will visit Rajapaksa’s house and take a
statement from him instead. The Opposition’s position is that Rajapaksa could
not be taken to court or be questioned for an action he took as President as
the President enjoys immunity for his official acts. Rajapaksa had appointed a
defector from the Opposition as a cabinet minister during the last Presidential
poll campaign. This was deemed as corruption.
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