In an interview with LAKBIMANEWS, he noted that if the government was to veer away from people-friendly policies and charter a dictatorial march, then the NFF will not hesitate to speak against the ruling party.
He also stressed that the NFF had rendered yeoman service to the country during the height of the North-East conflict and will not allow any force either locally or internationally to harm the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka.
Excerpts of the interview
Though the NFF is one of the affiliated parties of the UPFA recently we witnessed your party leader and Minister Wimal Weerawansa speaking on the need to allow detained former army chief retired General Sarath Fonseka from attending parliament sessions. Your party leader was also was pretty vocal when your nomination on the national list to parliament was rejected at the eleventh hour by the UPFA.
Does all this mean that the NFF can go the whole hog with the government by not toeing the government line?
The best form of defence they say is attack. Likewise we will continue to maintain our identity within the UPFA, but that will not preclude us from speaking our mind when the need arises.
The NFF always believed that this country has to be safeguarded from the clutches of the LTTE by crushing them and that policy we advocated since the inception of our party.
However, as a result of the JVP not willing to put country before self in an effort to defeat the LTTE that forced us to leave them and start a fresh political journey under the NFF banner.
Among other significant milestones of our party was ousting Ranil Wickremasinghe from power in 2004, bringing Mahinda Rajapaksa to power in 2005, and last but not least we were also able to overcome the subtle moves of the JVP to defeat the budget and prevent the collapse of the UPFA regime in 2007.
The climax of our patriotic struggle was the total elimination of the LTTE last May, and providing solid support to the president in his bid to return for a second stint at the presidential poll last January, and the UPFA scoring a resounding win in the subsequent general election.
Now, our duty is to provide maximum support to the UPFA to develop this country after the end of the three-decade long war, but that will not bar us from criticizing the ruling party when it needs to be and commending other measures when the need arises.
But, the comment made by your leader MP Weerawansa that retired General Fonseka should be allowed to attend sessions of the legislature as a MP has reportedly drawn the ire of the UPFA big wigs.
Wouldn’t that be an obstacle to co-exist with the government?
We know our duty as a party attached to the UPFA. And at the same time we also know our responsibility as a political party and if at all there is an issue where justice has not been meted out then we will not be reluctant to speak out publicly and that is what MP Weerawansa stated with regard to the former army chief.
What our leader said then was if General Fonseka had been able to gain power at the last presidential poll, then that would have sounded the death knell to the democracy of this country.
But, the former Army Chief managed to win a seat in the parliamentary poll and therefore as an MP he has certain rights and he is entitled to attend sessions of the legislature.
This is what MP Weerawansa tried to reiterate and we do not think that such a comment will draw the ire of the UPFA.
We are not in the government to pussyfoot, any issue and sugarcoat the UPFA we will speak then and there to whatever the topic and issue that needs our attention.
NFF vehemently campaigned to prevent Sarath Fonseka from unseating the president at the last presidential poll.
But, now that he has entered the legislature after the general election, do you think whatever the motives he may have had at the presidential election will take a backseat?
It is the duty of the speaker to safeguard the rights of all the 225 MPs in the legislature. What MP Weerawansa did was to make a statement with regard to safeguarding the rights and privileges that a fellow MP is entitled to when attending the parliament and it should not be taken out of context and misconstrued as the National Freedom Front whitewashing the sins of Sarath Fonseka.
You hit the national headlines in the run up to the presidential poll last January with your disclosure of how you were bribed with a sum of 300,000 rupees to support the retired General by certain opposition MPs.
However, the UPFA cold shouldered you openly by denying you a slot on the national list even after your bombshell revelation which most critics felt also contributed immesnsly towards the comprehensive win of the president. What do you make of it?
I feel it was a huge mistake committed by the UPFA denying me a slot on the national list considering what I achieved by way of my disclosure of the bribe and then as if to add insult to injury they brought in Rajiva Wijesinghe.
This was not what the NFF expected from the UPFA especially after they had guaranteed our party two slots on the national list.
If they had only promised us a single seat from the national list then I could have contested and won and we point our finger at the UPFA General Secretary Susil Prem Jayanth.
It was his tactic to allocate only a single seat to the NFF without even briefing our party and our leader vehemently opposed such a move.
Also I like to emphasize here that there was never any agreement or policy with any of the constituent parties of the UPFA on the allocation of seats from the national list.
So what do you think prompted the UPFA General Secretary to carry out such a measure when there was no prior agreement with any of the its coalition parties?
Though he is only the UPFA General Secretary the people of this country will know what sort of a character he is.
Though you find fault with Minister Prem Jayanth it is the president who really allocates the slots on the national list.
So just because you cannot fall foul of the president you are going hammer and tongs at the UPFA General Secretary. Isn’t this the truth?
Even if the president boobs, we are not afraid to criticize him and that is how the NFF functions. But, the final authority on the allocation of the national list seats is the UPFA General Secretary.
He is the person who liaises with the constituent partners of the UPFA.
It is he who hands over the final list to the polls commissioner and we clearly stated that if the NFF is to be given two seats then nominate both or refrain from nominating both.
But, he acted arbitrarily and did not heed our call and such moves have to be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
It was also known at the time that when your party was snubbed of a second slot on the national list that your leader had tried to contact the president but in vain.
Now if the NFF cannot even contact the president does that indicate that all is not well between him and your party?
Denying the NFF a national list slot and being unable to contact the president are two different issues.
The president was quite busy on that particular day and if we had been able to get an audience with him this issue could have been well and truly settled.
And you must understand that with the workload he has by merely contacting the president on the phone would not have been the answer to this grave blunder committed on the part of the UPFA General Secretary.
Are you entirely pleased with the finalization of the UPFA national list?
I believe that though there are certain MPs who deserve to be in parliament at the same time there are also a few dolls who have been accommodated by the UPFA - a lot which the government could have most certainly done without. However, I have no intention of naming names. I will continue to play my role within the NFF for the sake of the country and for that being in the parliament is not imperative.
By Courtesy of www.lakbimanews.lk
9th May 2010.
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