State Minister of Power Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that the former Yahapalana Government went completely against the mandate they received in 2015 and therefore, the people wanted a trustworthy leader like President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who can rebuild the country. In an interview with the Sunday Observer, the State Minister said the people were well aware that if Sajith Premadasa became the President, Ranil Wickremesinghe would have been the Prime Minister and this would once again pave the way for political instability in the country.
He said that for the first time in our history when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected President, a vast majority of the people stood by his policies. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Government is completely different from the former Ranil Wickremesinghe Government which took the law into their hands. Ironically, the law was operated by a few of those who were at Temple Trees and not the CID. They took both the law and the CID into their hands to take revenge from their political opponents. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will never resort to that path. As a democratic Government, we have given the full freedom to the relevant institutions to enforce the law.
Q. Could you explain the political climate in the country which paved the way for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resounding victory?
A. In the Sri Lankan history, this is a resounding victory achieved by a non-politician who contested at a Presidential Election irrespective of political differences. Therefore, this is a historic victory. A Presidential Candidate who had not been involved in active politics presented and discussed his policy which paved the way for him to secure a resounding victory. The success story behind his victory was the utmost confidence placed in him by the people. During his election campaign, the President introduced an action plan to the people and explained in detail how the country should move forward. He had practically proved that he is a person who had successfully accomplished his task when he was Defence Secretary. During the time of war as the then Defence Secretary, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave the necessary leadership to win the war against terrorists. He also initiated a massive development in Colombo and its suburbs. The President is a decision-maker. At present, the issue with most of the politicians is that they don’t make proper decisions. In the past too, the President has clearly proved that he is a leader who implemented the law to the letter. He is a well disciplined leader who doesn’t indulge in corruption. Therefore, during the election, the people placed their trust on these characteristics of the President.
During the President’s election campaign, his rival candidate made a series of false pledges and launched a mud-slinging campaign. However, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his election campaign always talked about his policies and his action plan to rebuild the country. The minority parties, especially some Muslim parties, attempted to create an extremist ideology among their people. Under such circumstances, all Sinhala Buddhist people rallied round the President and they were of the firm opinion that they should elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President to rescue the country.
Q. What are the main fronts on which the Yahapalana Government lost public confidence and how did it all happen?
A. None of the pledges given by the Yahapalana Government were fulfilled. Political instability was one of the key reasons for the downfall of the Yahapalana Government. The then President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe went in two different directions while fraud and corruption were rampant. Even the then Prime Minister and some of the Ministers of the Yahapalana Government who came to power to stop corruption committed a series of corrupt acts. They could not fulfill any of the pledges given to the people such as providing one million jobs for youth. They completely went against the mandate they received in 2015. Therefore, the people wanted a trustworthy leader who could rebuild the country. The people knew if Sajith Premadasa became the President, Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the Prime Minister. That again would pave the way for political instability in the country.
Q. Could you speak on the confusion in the UNP hierarchy with regard to positions such as Leader of the Opposition and Party Leader and the ongoing struggle between party veterans and backbenchers?
A. The UNP has plunged into a political abyss and there is no visible escape. Sajith Premadasa thinks he can form a new party and consolidate power like how Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa formed the SLPP. Sajith Premadasa and Mahinda Rajapaksa are two different personalities. Therefore, this is absurd thinking by Sajith Premadasa. If Sajith Premadasa quits the UNP and forms a new party, that would be the end of his political career and the UNP. With whom is Sajith going to form a new party and move forward? He has to go with politicians like Malik Samarawickrama and some of those who have serious charges of corruption in the previous Yahapalana Government. Therefore, this UNP crisis will never be resolved and it would further aggravate.
Q. Do you believe your Government could herald a new political culture in the country, free of bribery and corruption, cronyism, nepotism and other such social ills?
A. It will not be possible to take this President for a ride. He has given full freedom to the Ministers to perform their duties but he is monitoring all their activities. It was the first time in Sri Lankan history that the people were of the view that all these 225 Parliamentarians should be sent home. However, the President is attempting to gain that lost reputation for politicians. Therefore, if we follow the guidelines of the President, the people would pay their due respect to politicians. For the first time, the President doesn’t use his official residence, large fleet of vehicles and even the VIP lounge at the airport. The President has also his staff and doesn’t enjoy any privileges. The President has formulated an action plan to help the deserving people and this is what the people expect. For the first time in our history when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected President, a vast majority of the country’s people stood by his policies. President Rajapaksa is a leader who loves the environment. We have not seen such practices in the past. There will be no room for fraud and corruption during the tenure of the incumbent President. With regard to family bandyism, there is the situation where the son succeeds his father in politics, which is of course unavoidable. That is there in every. The President has set an example and he has not recruited any of his family members or relations to his staff. The President would firmly maintain this policy.
Q. How about the Swiss embassy episode? Are certain elements attempting to besmirch the image of the country?
A. So many international forces were behind the conspiracy to defeat Gotabaya Rajapaksa. When their attempts failed, these international forces attempt to tarnish the image of the President. However, their first attempt became an utter failure. The true story of Rajitha Senaratne’s ‘white van drama’ has come to light. The two suspects who were arrested and who claimed to be the ‘white van’ drivers have confessed that they were paid money to make those fabricated stories to the media. Even the true picture of the Swiss Embassy employee’s ‘drama’ has also been revealed. At present, the UNP and its other allies have been deprived of all the perks they enjoyed and the misuse of public funds. Therefore, they attempt to create crises within the Government before the next Parliamentary Election. That would never happen and the UNP will not realise their sinister moves.
Q. The two suspects of the ‘white van’ drama have been arrested and remanded till December 27. However, even the Government Ministers are of the view that the person who engineered that conspiracy should also be brought to book. Your comments?
A. We would like to say Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government is completely different from the former regime. They took the law into their hands. Ironically, the law was operated by a few of those who were at Temple Trees and not the CID. They took both the law and CID into their hands to take revenge from their political opponents.President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will never select that path.
As the two ‘actors’ of the ‘white van’ drama were arrested, the ‘director’ of the drama will also be arrested soon following the statements given by them. What happened during the previous regime was that the ‘director’ was arrested first and the accused were arrested later but the cases were not heard. This would not happen under the present administration. As a democratic Government, we have given full freedom to the relevant institutions to enforce the law. We have not interfered with the law enforcement authorities. The law should be properly enforced against all those who engineered conspiracies to embarrass the Government.
Q. Investigations have commenced on the removal of the then Chief Justice Mohan Peiris. It is said that if the CJ doesn’t tender his resignation, he can only be removed from his post through an impeachment motion in Parliament. Could you explain?
A. Certainly. Former Western Province Governor Azath Salley had threatened the then CJ to step down. Therefore, an investigation will be launched in this regard. If somebody goes to the CJ’s residence and threatens him to resign by pointing a pistol to his head, such unruly behavior should immediately be stopped. If somebody has committed such an unlawful act, legal action should be taken against him as the judiciary is the most reputed and respected body in the country.
Q. Even you have said that a Presidential Commission is to be appointed to probe the malpractices by the former Yahapalana Government. Could you elaborate on this?
A. Definitely, that would happen in the near future. At present, a series of massive frauds committed by the previous regime has been revealed. Several Presidential Commission reports have also been released regarding it. As the then Opposition, we presented ‘Top Ten’ corruption cases but no action was taken on any such cases during the last four and half years. The former Government during its tenure has swindled over Rs.2000 billion public funds.
The corruption committed by the previous Government only in the ‘Top Ten’ cases amounts to Rs. 1.5 billion. However, none of these complaints was investigated. Therefore, a special Commission should immediately be appointed to look into those malpractices and to bring the culprits to book. I think, the President would immediately appoint this Commission.
Q. Will the Parliament be dissolved in March next year as said by the President? Have you reached a final consensus on the symbol to contest the General Election?
A. Several political parties have joined hands to contest under the SLPP banner. However, an opinion has been expressed in society that the ‘Pohottuwa’ should be our symbol. The people are in favour of this symbol. There is a view that it is more appropriate to contest under the ‘Pohottuwa’ symbol. If we want, we can come to a consensus. Even though the party is SLPP we can change the symbol. However, we would take a final decision after discussing with all constituent parties in our political alliance. So far, we have not even discussed this issue. Earlier, we reached consensus that we should contest the General Election under the ‘chair’ symbol so we can’t violate that. Definitely, we would be able to form a two thirds majority Government at the next General Election. Earlier, the Governments were formed with the help of the minority parties and we had to dance to their whims and fancies.
This time the Sinhala Buddhists rallied round a Sinhala leader. Therefore, the President would be able to take decisions on behalf of the country within the next five years without succumbing to any pressure by the minority parties.
Q. The Parliament is to be reconvened on January 03, next year. Does the Government have any issue in securing the majority in Parliament?
A. No one should panic about it. When it comes to a vote in Parliament, the Government would secure the required number of majority votes. We have no issue about the majority. If we want to pass some legislation, we would do that at the appropriate time. We have discussed as to how the Parliament should continue in the next three months. That would happen democratically. We have a program so that there is no issue of continuing Parliament in the next three months.
Q. Various views were expressed on the Parliamentary Select Committee appointed by the former Government to probe the Easter Sunday attacks and it has been said that it didn’t mete out justice to the victims. Do you think the new Presidential Commission appointed by the President would provide justice and bring those who are responsible for the disaster to book?
A. Definitely. The President during the election campaign pledged to appoint a Presidential Commission to probe the Easter Sunday attacks. He has given full powers to this Commission to investigate the incident and bring the culprits to book. Even some Ministers of the former Government who had alleged links with Saharan were appointed as members of that Parliamentary Select Committee. That is why a full fledged new Presidential Commission was appointed to probe the incident.
Q. Even the TNA has expressed concern about cooperating with the Government. Don’t you think the Government should give priority to addressing the issues of the people in the North and the East?
A. The President will visit Jaffna in January next year and he will summon all the Government officials. Even if the people in the North didn’t vote for the President, he will not let down them. He is the President of all people including those in the North and the East. Therefore, the President will introduce a systematic program to provide solutions for their burning issues. But I am of the view that no special attention should be focused or priority should be given to any people in any particular area. We should give equal attention to all people in the country irrespective of their ethnicity. We should treat everybody equally.
Q. In your opinion should the 19 th Amendment be abolished or its shortcomings rectified?
A. If we can rectify its shortcomings that would be enough. However, the 19 th Amendment has created many issues in the country. This is an amendment drafted entirely on a political agenda. So,it is a total mess. It would be more appropriate, if we can fully amend this. If we want we can introduce a new Constitution as well. At present, we are studying it.
Q. Some of those who claim to be journalists at some social media networks attempt to give a wrong impression that attempts are being made to harass journalists after the incumbent Government came to power. Your comments?
A. After this Government came to power, no journalist has faced any issue. These are the issues created by the UNP to gain their narrow political mileage but the people are far ahead of them. The UNP attempts to destabilise the Government due to their defeat at the Presidential Election. However, the people would not seriously consider any such ‘dramas’ enacted by the UNP.
Q.How do you l feel about the transformation made in the country after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office?
A. He is a state leader elected with the blessings of the people.The people never voluntarily came forward to extend their support to a leader in this manner. Now, the people spend their own money for paintings, planting trees and re-cultivating abandoned paddy fields. We have never witnessed this kind of transformation in our history. The people should join hands and give the necessary strength to the President to go forward.
As politicians, there may be some personal disappointments due to the decisions taken by the President but we all should think as a country. We should extend our fullest support to the President so that we would be able to enjoy the results. For the first time, even the JVP and TNA have said that they would extend their support to the President’s program.
Q. According to media reports new investors and tenders had been called for power generation but the President has categorically said that foreign investments must come through proper procurement procedures backed by feasibility studies. Could you explain?
A. During the past four years, the former Government had signed unsolicited proposals for 2000 MW power projects for commercial purposes. Actually, it looks like daylight robbery. During the previous regime, it was only the Social Services Ministry which had not presented Cabinet papers for the Power Ministry. Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, former Ministers Champika Ranawaka, Ravi Karunanayake, Malik Samarawickrama and the then Ministry Secretary Suren Batagoda had presented their own proposals for power projects. Over the past four and half years, personal agendas of politicians had been implemented without adding even a single MW to the country’s national grid. Therefore, the President categorically said that during his tenure no tender will be offered without competitive bidding. The President also instructed us to draft a policy framework to be given to all countries. Then anyone can make their investment in the power sector based on competitive bidding.
Q.You and your Cabinet Minister had a discussion with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on December 12 about the shortcomings and future developments in the national electricity sector and the short-term and long-term solutions to the power crisis. What is the outcome of the discussion?
A. We discussed with the President regarding the issues in the power sector and as to how the country could move forward without any power crisis. That was a very fruitful discussion. One of the key points raised by the President was that he wanted to bring the use of renewable energy up to 70 percent.
At present, the power is also generated using diesel. Therefore,the President’s policy is to increase the use of renewable energy up to 70 percent by 2025. As an environmental friendly leader, the President is not in favour of generating electricity using diesel and coal. Therefore, he wants us to promote the use of renewable energy and we are working to promote solar, wind and hydro power generation. We also discussed at length the issues with regard to the institutions under the purview of the Power Ministry and as to how their losses can be minimised.