SINHALA OPP LEADER: EVEN WAR WITH LTTE ENDS, EELAM MAY BE BORN WITH UN INTERVENTION !!!

Mangala warns govt. of unfinished business, UN intervention

By Yohan Perera
SLFP (M) Leader Mangala Samaraweera who has returned to the island after a long stay abroad said yesterday that the Northern issue would take the country towards Eelam even after the war with the LTTE ends. He also warned of possible UN intervention in Sri Lanka shortly.

Mr. Samaraweera told a news conference yesterday that crushing the LTTE without offering a political solution to the Tamil people in this country would draw anti Eelam Tamils both here and abroad towards a pro Eelam stance. He said the best example is the AIADMK Leader Jeyalalithaa Jeyaram who has stated that she would secure a state of Eelam for the Sri Lankan Tamils. He said the continuous protests by the Tamil Diaspora in many countries are also an indication of things to come.

He charged that the country is going through one of the most dangerous phases of its history as the path to Eelam is being paved. “Therefore the government should not think it can solve the national issue like settling a street fight,” he said. He recalled that the national issue would have been solved in the 1950s if late S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was allowed to make Tamil an official language the way he made Sinhala the official language. He said the late Prime Minister was not allowed to accomplish his mission.

With regard to the present political situation, he said initial plans are underway to build up a joint opposition alliance. Mr Samaraweera said the programme in this regard would be made public in the coming months. He said a powerful common opposition candidate would be put forward to challenge President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the next presidential election.

Commenting on the recently concluded Western Provincial Council election, he said the UPFA cannot afford to be happy as 1.4 million people in the province alone have refrained from voting while the number of spoilt votes has increased to 3% at the election. He said those who have spoilt their votes are those who are frustrated with the UPFA but who do not want to vote for the UNP either.

He further noted that the present opposition including the UNP should realize that it does not have the ability to go before the people and an effective force should be built up to go before people and defeat this government.

DAILYMIRROR.LK