Q: We can start out very idealistically, but the reality is that it is bags of money that win elections. Without money you can't do anything much. You need money to run a campaign, to advertise, print posters etc., so if you are to win an election how are you going to match them first of all resource-wise?

A: Money as you say is needed to certain extent, but it is not everything. There are lots of moneyed people who have lost. Those who spent rather moderately have also done well at elections. At the moment we are not contesting, but for other activities we have enough financial support. There are lots of people who are giving us substantial financial support. As you can see we are doing lot of things and all that cost lot of money. Basically, even to pump petrol and diesel to vehicles every month you have to spend couple of hundred thousand rupees in today's context, but there are people supporting us and there will be more people joining us.

Q: Had the UNP Leader contested the last presidential election after mocking the war, he would have received such a severe drubbing that he would have been consigned to the dustbin of history. So, he used you to get over that problem. In the same manner there are foreign forces trying to use you to topple this government, but afterwards if you come they will do the same thing to you.

A: I come in what sense ...

Q: That is if you get elected. For example in 2001 they helped get Ranil Wickremesinghe to come to power, but they pulled the rug from underneath his feet by first of all giving him an economic dead rope insisting that he should only have austerity measures, meaning no subsidies, no recruitment etc., that finally led to his downfall at the next election. Simply, these foreign interests only want permanent chaos here to help their hidden agenda. Likewise they might help you to topple this government, but remember these are the same people who used to accuse you of committing all types of excesses during the war. So they might press those same charges against you if you come to power.

A: Up to now nobody from outside countries has contacted us or we have not been having anything to do with anybody that you can prove...

Q: Obviously, they will not show their hand. They always operate underneath.

A: If they are trying to do things without our knowledge, they can try and see, but we have a clear set of principles and I have been saying that all these problems that you are talking of are there because of the present culture of politics in this country. We have to change this culture of politics. We have to get people to think differently. That is what I am trying to do. Otherwise people will get fooled and played out. At the end of it they will not get anything. But we want to do genuine and sincere politics. That is why I am looking for sincere people, sincere characters to change the culture of politics in this country. That is why I am also not joining any of the parties at the moment because I have a different agenda.

Q: But in this country the people are always voting in a funny manner. They always vote for either a coalition led by the UNP or the SLFP.

A: This is the history of this country.

Q: How are you going to change that?

A: When I fought the war the people said the same thing.

Q: War and politics are not the same.

A: I am telling you in the war also many people said the same thing. Nobody could win this. Fonseka can't do it either. If it is happening in a different way in other countries why are you trying to brand Sri Lanka as a place where there can't be civilised politics? There is civilised politics and democracy in other countries. If we want this country to prosper we have to introduce civilised way of doing politics, elections, democracy and everything else. If we are negative then we will sink.

Q: No sooner had the war ended you pitched into the government making all sorts of allegations of corruption. But, having been in the army all these years even before this war started, you would have seen how many a senior officer enriched himself at the expense of the country and the respective service. Some of them even lost their family members due to corrupt practices preventing the acquiring of what is really required by the forces. But, since the final war was fought to a finish with a sincere will and purpose you could have been more patient and worked from within to correct any wrongs. Even the UNP and the JVP just wanted to ride to power on your back.

A: They depended on me because they did not have a proper candidate. That is a different argument. But why should I do politics with this government. Then I could have continued with the same way I was working under this government in the same position in uniform. I had two more years to serve and I had all the perks, the security ...

Q: Then why were you in such haste?

A: It was not in haste. What was the point in delaying it? If I had continued to work with them under so much corruption I would have had to come out one day. Then somebody will again say you have come out in haste.

Q: Hemakumara Nanayakkara, who left the government recently wants to form a rainbow type coalition to oust the government. But, the tragedy is that the rats in the government who have been enjoying the good life so far, sensing a possible downfall of the regime are secretly negotiating with him with the hope of forming the next government.

A: This is the political culture of this country. This is exactly what I want to change. I want to make sure that politicians can't go before the people, get their vote, go to Parliament and then bargain for various personal positions. I want to change that system. Now everything is done for their own personal benefit, not for the interest of the country.

Q: Some people blame your haughty character for scaring Ranil Wickremesinghe. They say you didn't even show some simple courtesies to him that he deserved as the senior UNP politician, party leader and the Leader of the Opposition.

A: I respected him in the manner I had to respect him. He respected me as the presidential candidate of the common opposition. Otherwise, if he is scared of me ... in other words he is scared of my popularity and nothing else. That is not my problem. You can see there are lots of problems in the UNP. It is not only between Fonseka and the UNP leader. I have no basic problem with him. I have never uttered a word against him.

Q: He is not going to leave his position.

A: That is his problem, but I have not uttered a word against him.

Q: There was speculation that the UNP offered you the party deputy leadership after its working Committee decided to extend the term of its leader to six years.

A: They were all rumours. They had only said at a media briefing that I should buy a 20 rupee ticket and join that party.

Q: Even at the end of the war you wanted to beef up the army even more and wanted to have army cantonments all over the country, but then during your presidential campaign you suddenly talked about withdrawing the army.

A: I never said the army must be withdrawn immediately. Even at that time as army commander I never said keep the army forever. Depending on the situation at the particular time I recommended the deployment of the army. I said beef up the army and give it additional strength because the soldiers had to get some rest. When we captured Jaffna, it was done with 15,000 soldiers, but when we had to hold it after that for fifteen years we had 35,000 troops. So holding requires more troops. So I recommended that I need about another 80,000 troops. Normally in the army at least one fourth should be away from deployment, for training, rest, leave and various other reasons. That is what I recommended, but these people did not understand it. They are all selfish and they did not listen to me. They were not bothered about soldiers rest and recuperation. That is why more soldiers are deserting now than during the war. Up to now about 70,000 soldiers have deserted after the war. During the final war for three and a half years so many soldiers did not desert.

Q: Western nations are pressing us to speed up the withdrawal of the army from the north. With the LTTE threat far from over, how should we tackle the issue?

A: The eelam threat is not over because the government failed to look into the requirements and needs of the affected people. They only rushed the sending out of the people who were in IDP camps because they didn't want to spend money on them. They were playing out money that was coming for the purpose of resettling, development of infrastructure in those areas, the maintenance of IDP camps. Lot of money that was coming from India and various other countries they played out. Then they rushed the IDPs to settle without proper infrastructure facilities. That is why they are worried that there will be an LTTE threat again. They should have attended to things systematically cleared the area, restored infrastructure like tank bunds, roads, culverts, schools, hospitals and various other requirements. Instead, they sent the people back with each family given three GI sheets plus one bag of cement or something and wanted people to resettle. As a result the situation is still volatile. If it had been done properly, by this time, the relocating the army as required could have been done to return to a state of near normalcy, but they have failed to do that.

Q: They have done tremendous amount of infrastructure work, especially what we have seen in the east is almost unbelievable compared to what it was earlier.

A: The best way of playing out money for them is through roads and bridges. If one kilometre can be constructed with Rs. 20 million, they are spending Rs. 110 million. That is why they are so fond of construction. Is that the only thing you require in the country?

Q: True there is corruption, family bandyism and various other wrongs taking place, but if the UNP comes to power tomorrow things will not be any different going by past experience.

A: That is why I am talking about a different political culture. I don't want the fall of this corrupt government to see the rise of another corrupt regime. We have to ensure that the people who love the country and are not corrupt come to power. You don't think that is possible.

Q: We don't believe for a moment there are so many saintly politicians in this world. Most are in it for themselves.

A: In other countries also there may be little bit of corruption, but they do their job properly. They can�t play out the way they do it here and survive, in those countries, for that matter even in India. You are talking as if the corruption here should be taken granted. It has to be eradicated. If you think so negatively what is the future of this country?

Q: Can you tell us something about your son-in-law? How did he stage the great escape?

A: That, of course, you have to find out the day you meet him. We don't know.

Q: What are the chances of his coming back?

A: He will come back the day there is justice in this country. He is hiding now because there is a threat to his life. We heard their plans, whereby they wanted to catch him during the election and assassinate him so that my morale would go down.

Q: But that would have meant blood on their hands.

A: They had a plan to take him to the CID and do something. Lots of people taken to CID custody have died there in the past. They wanted to create a situation like that so they could knock me down mentally.

Q: Just after the war you ordered a huge shipment of armaments. Why was that?

A: Not a huge order for armaments. It was for US $ 200 million for which we had already signed agreements. This was the balance. And during the war my armoured corps, which I commanded was started with 80 tanks, the number came down to 30 by the end of the war. These people did not approve of the repairs during the war. So in the last days of the war I had to do fighting mostly without armoured vehicles. So we had to maintain these regiments. When vehicles are condemned they have to be written off. So I had the idea of using the $ 200 million to replace those armoured vehicles. That was my duty as the commander of the army.

Q: What is your stand on the Parliamentary Select Committee proposed by the government to find a solution to the ethnic problem? Will you all participate in it?

A: You can give lot of things on paper, but unless there is reconciliation whatever you give will only aggravate the situation.

Q:In cut and dry terms for them any settlement requires the permanent merger of the north and east provinces and land and police powers.

A: Don't talk about police and land. I am talking about the general situation before you decide on the constitutional changes and what you can give and what you can't give. First, get the people to live together. They must not be suspicious about each other. If the people in the south are suspicious about the people in the north, then what ever you give the situation will get aggravated. The hatred will increase. The distrust will increase.

Q: Will your party get involved in the PSC deliberation process to find a final solution?

A: If the outcome again is a solution on paper, we will be wasting time. What I stated earlier has to take place beforehand. Then a base conducive for a solution will be created. After that a solution will have to come.

Q: For Tamil leaders their baseline for a permanent solution is the permanent merger of the north and east, and police and land powers.

A: This is what the Tamil politicians have been harping on and politicians from both sides have been talking on various lines for their own survival.

(Island)

Following the case filed by the wife of the missing journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, Homagama Magistrate today (19) released a notice ordering the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) parliamentarian Arundika Fernando to appear before court on June 16th. The notice has been released following the request made by the counsel appearing on behalf of the aggrieved party, Attorney-at-law Upul Kumarapperuma denoting that Arundika Fernando must be questioned regarding the statement he made to the media. In his statement he had stated that Eknaligoda is currently residing in France.

A tense situation erupted at the Open University in Nawala after a student had attacked a lecturer, sources told Ada Derana. The lecturer has been admitted to the Kalubowila Hospital with cut injuries. The student who attacked the lecturer is still within the university premises carrying the sharp object used in the attack, sources claimed. Despite police being notified not a single policemen has arrived at the scene, it is reported.

Democratic Party leader Gen. Sarath Fonseka yesterday vowed to make his party the second force in the local political arena, claiming that it had already taken third place. Addressing a gathering, after presenting appointment letter to his party's electoral organisers and candidates for the forthcoming provincial council elections, the former army commander said that more than the government, it was the Opposition which feared his party. Citing an example from Pakistan, Fonseka said that the present opposition, led by former cricketer Imran Khan, had started out with only one member in parliament and in a few years it had become the main Opposition. "Likewise, the DP also expects to go on its political journey with the support of the people," he said.

The government says administratively the 13th Amendment to the constitution is a "white elephant" and past experiences have proven this. In a live Twitter interview today, President's Secretary Lalith Weeratunga said that the 13th Amendment must be viewed from the angle of the citizen. "It's no secret that administratively it's a white elephant. Pres Rajapaksa will always honour the Constitution. 13 A has to be viewed from people's standpoint. Devolution must be to the village. Power must be devolved to the lowest possible level, the village - the Gramarajya or Panchayat. Sub nat'l level PCs haven't served purpose," he said. He also rejected the assertion that the actions of the government contravene the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

MP Duminda Silva arrived in Parliament a short while ago for the first time in 18 months following the shooting incident in Kolonnawa that resulted in the death of former MP Baratha Lakshman Premachandra in 2011. The UPFA Parliamentarian was hospitalised with gunshot wounds to the head following the incident in Kolonnawa on October 8, 2011. MP Silva was further treated in Singapore where he made his recovery and returned to the island. Charge sheets were filed against 13 suspects including MP Duminda Silva over the murders of four persons including former Parliamentarian and Presidential Adviser Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra.

A group of young Sri Lankan cricket fans have reportedly assaulted a group of Tamil activists who were staging a peaceful protest against the Sri Lankan government at the entrance of Oval grounds in England. The incident has occurred after the Sri Lanka national cricket team gained victory over Australia in Champion Trophy. Over 100 Tamil activists including children have participated in the protest and they have been issuing leaflets, which indicated that people should boycott the matches played by the Sri Lankan cricket team as the Sri Lankan government is involved in the genocide of the Tamil ethnics. The fans who came out excited after victory of Sri Lanka over Australia has attacked the demonstrators, who were wearing yellow T shirts and holding LTTE flags, with bottles and stones. Several demonstrators have sustained injuries following the assault.

Sri Lanka Navy Wednesday intercepted and arrested 80 illegal migrants bound for Australia in the seas off the eastern coast. A fast Naval Patrol Craft attached to the Eastern Naval Command has intercepted a multi-day fishing vessel with the 80 people onboard in the seas off of Batticaloa this morning, the Navy said. The arrested migrants are being brought to the Trincomalee Harbor to be handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for further investigations. Despite Sri Lanka Navy's efforts and Australia's recent measure of returning the boat people back to home country, would-be asylum seekers continue attempting to migrate to Australia.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said the Northern Province should be opened up for all communities to live in without further delay. That would be of pivotal importance to promote bonding among the people in the post-war era. The Defence Secretary emphasised that the Sinhalese shouldn't be deprived of their right to buy land in any part of the country, including the Northern Province comprising the administrative districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya. The outspoken official said that the Sinhalese and the Muslim public servants too, should be allowed to serve in the Northern Province as well as in the predominantly Tamil areas of the Eastern Province.

For the first time since the end of the military annihilation of the LTTE in May 2009, and a raging debate within Sri Lanka on the way to go about redressing the political and social grievances of the island nation's Tamils, India has expressed dismay over reports suggesting that Colombo is mulling over a review of the key issues related to devolution of powers to the provinces. At an interactive session with a delegation of the Tamil National Alliance, the legislative representative group of the Sri Lankan Tamils in the North-Eastern province, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is reported to have told them that reports of the Rajapaksa regime reneging on its commitment to New Delhi on a political package for resolution of the concerns of the Tamil community in the island nation are disturbing.

Sri Lanka's external affairs minister has pleaded with Tamil refugees in Australia who fled the nation's bloody civil war to come home - having quietly slipped into Canberra for talks on combating people smugglers. G.L. Peiris told Fairfax Media in an exclusive interview Sri Lanka is now perfectly stable, with an economic boom in the once devastated northern Tamil regions running at three-times the national average. But he warned smugglers sending record numbers of Sri Lankans by boat to Australia were making "unconscionable profits" and cared nothing for the people they put on unseaworthy vessels. "Sri Lanka is today a land at peace, it is a perfectly stable society. The northern province is developing at about 22 per cent, when the average population of the country is between 6 or 7 per cent," Professor Peiris said.

Two suspects have been arrested by the police rearding the warehouse fire which broke down at the Colombo harbor recently. They have been arrested by the Colombo Crime Division. The fire broke down on the 24th May around 1.00 am. Ports authority Fire brigate with the help of the military and the CMC was able to put out the fire.

DIG Vaas Gunawardena who is in remand over the alleged involvement in an abduction and murder of a businessman has been interdicted, the Police Spokesman stated. DIG Gunawardena, who is a suspect in the abduction and murder of a businessman in Dompe was taken from the Colombo National Hospital to the Prison Hospital on June 15 after falling ill while in custody. The DIG was further remanded until June 25 by the Colombo Additional Magistrate A.M. Shabdeen. Bambalapitiya-based businessman Mohamed Siyam was abducted and murdered in the Dompe area on May 22.

Tamil National Alliance MP C Yogeswaran on Sunday demanded that immediate steps be taken to stop the aggressive and meticulously planned sinhalicisation of Punaanai East, situated 52 km northwest of Batticaloa city. During the times of the LTTE, the presence of the Tiger forces from Kudumpimalai in the South to Vaakarai in the North had thwarted the earlier attempts of sinhalicisation. In the absence of LTTE, sinhalicisation is now rapidly taking place along Batticaloa and Polonnaruwa border, where Punaanai is situated. Besides occupation of Sinhalese families, Punaanai has also witnessed various instances of Sinhalicisation including the statue of the Chief deity of a Pi'l'laiyaar temple going missing and demolition of Saivite temples under the guise of archeological excavations.

The Principal of the Anuradhapura Niwanthaka Chetiya College had been allegedly assaulted by the son of the SLFP Pradeshiya Sabha member Anil Pushpananda today. The assailant, an Advanced Level student in the college had allegedly assaulted the Principal when he asked the students to attend additional classes during the holidays.

The Registration of Electors (special provisions) bill that ensures voting rights to displaces persons in the North passed in parliament with amendment a short while ago. The Supreme Court ruled that the special bill that gives voting rights to the displaced in the North is consistent with the constitution, Speaker announced in parliament on June 5. The issue of whether it is in accordance with the constitution that those who were internally displaced in the North could cast their votes according to the areas they resided in before being displaced was brought up to the Supreme Court for interpretation. Deputy Solicitor General Arjun Obeysekera who was present for the Attorney General pointed out that internally displaced persons can, with a certificate from the Grama Sevaka, cast his vote for the area of residence prior to being displaced.

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution has opened up a dialogue in the media and the public space. It is a characteristic of democracy. Some say the 13th Amendment is needed; some say it is not required. However, Police powers and Land powers referenced in the Amendment are not required at this juncture, Prime Minister and Buddhasasana and Religious Affairs Minister D.M. Jayaratne said. The Prime Minister made these comments at a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office yesterday. He said giving Police and Land powers will create needless issues in a small country like Sri Lanka. "This would lead to many problems in the future. The 30-year war in Sri Lanka was brought to an end under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, the new High Commissioner of India to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka arrived in Colombo today, the Indian High Commission said in a release. Mr. Y.K. Sinha is a seasoned diplomat and during his career of 32 years, has handled several important assignments at the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi and in Indian diplomatic missions in the Middle East, Europe, South America and the Permanent Mission of India at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Before coming to Sri Lanka, he was Additional Secretary in the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division at the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. He was Ambassador of India to Venezuela from January 2007 to August 2009 and Consul General of India in Dubai from August 2003 to December 2006. Earlier, he served as Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi (UAE) from March 2002 to July 2003.

Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Leader Sarath Fonseka said today the fact that President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself had to call the victimised teacher to assure her that justice will be done goes to prove that there is no justice in Sri Lanka. Mr. Fonseka was referring to the incident where a UPFA member of the North Western Provincial Council had allegedly humiliated a female teacher for disciplining his daughter on Friday. At a ceremony to appoint DNA electoral organisers, Mr. Fonseka said the provincial councillor should have praised the teacher for advising his daughter.

Sources close to the main coalition party of ruling alliance, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), say that the controversial Provincial Councilor of the North Western Provincial Council has submitted his resignation to the party. North Western Provincial Council member Ananda Sarath Kumara forced a female teacher in charge of discipline at the Navagattegama Navodya Vidyalaya to kneel down before him in her classroom as a punishment for warning his daughter that her school uniform is too short. The politician has been arrested and remanded until June 27th. He has sent his resignation from the remand prison, sources said.

Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella yesterday said that the UPFA would be very strict when nominating candidates for the Central and Wayamba Provincial Council elections. The two councils would be dissolved very soon, he said. Some of those elected at the previous Provincial Council elections on the UPFA ticket had been charged with murder, rape, assault robbery, arson and misconduct and party would be very careful as to whom nominations would be given, Rambukwella said. Such politicians, he said, had tarnished the good name of the party, which had won praise from the masses and was known as the party which could deliver. "We will not allow the aforementioned people to contest on the UPFA ticket and will carefully filter those who are seeking nominations," he said.