Accommodating traitors, while JVP is busy digging its own political grave.

By Charles Perera

The President Mahinda Rajapakse, has a problem accommodating dissenting UNPers. From the Presidents point of view accommodating these traitors may be a political necessity, as JVP who he trusted would be partners in his government, and the JVP that got a mandate from the people to work with the President, turned traitors to him and the people who voted JVP. Therefore the President is in an unenviable position working without a majority, forced to come to terms with a political party which does not see eye to eye with him in his socialist political programme.

The President should not, however, forget that at least 55 percent of the population of Sri Lanka had rejected UNP in the last Presidential elections, and those people who elected Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse did not give him a mandate to rule the country with the UNP.

In trying to work with UNP, the President is taking a risk, but he has no alternative as JVP which he relied on has left him in the lurch, to dig its own political grave. The only satisfaction the President may have in the MoU with the UNP is that he had been able to give the International Community the existence of an apparent unity between the two main political parties of Sri Lanka, other than that the UNP will be a burden than a partner to work with.

Perhaps the only purpose the MoU with UNP will serve is in the war against terrorism. There too every thing depends on whether the UNP is prepared to give the President a free hand to proceed with the process he has started along with the army to weaken the terrorists and finally bring them to their knees. But if the UNP with their known allegiance with the terrorist group, begins to interfere in to the military plan against the terrorists, the MoU with the UNP will prove a disaster. The UNP had not been a reliable political party, it lacked transparency in their political dealings and above all UNP is a party of the rich, and unwanted, unsavoury elements, that thrive on anti social activities.

The Commander of the army Mr. Sarath Fonseka is doing remarkably well in directing the forces to flush out the terrorists from the East, therefore there is no use introducing an ex army Commander Janaka Perera into the scene at this point; if there is any truth in what we read in certain sections of the media about UNP stalwarts having secret discussions with the former Army Commander. If that becomes a reality that will break the unity of the armed forces, and the war against terrorism will weaken.

The de-merger of North and East is now a fact. There is no going back on it with or without a referendum. Therefore, any one opposed to that, such as Mr.Rauf Hakeem of the SLMC should not be accommodated in the government with or without a MoU. Mr.Rauf Hakeem has proved on more than one occasion, that he is not a reliable politician ,and that he has no principles. He is insincere, ambitious for himself, like Ranil Wickramasinghe, and not an asset either to the Muslim Community or to Sri Lanka. Rauf Hakeem of SLMC, who demands that Karuna should be disarmed, will never be an asset to the President and his government. Mr. Rauf Hakeem is not worth a soiled shirt of Karuna. Karuna is a more useful asset to Sri Lanka, than Rauf Hakeem would ever be.

If these UNP dissidents want to join the government to help the President and therefore Sri Lanka, why should they insist on port folios ? Does not that show that the reason for their joining the government is not motivated by patriotism ? They are joining the government perhaps with the ulterior motive of destabilising the government and to see whether they could break it up making it possible for the setting up of a UNP government.( in April, as S.B.Dissanayake had said). Therefore the President should be more cautious.