Sri Lanka: Undeclared war only silver lining for GOSL: Weerawansa

Thursday, 18 October 2007

The people, the working class in particular, of this country do not take to the streets against this government thanks to the battle with the Tamil Tigers waged by our valiant armed forces, JVP Parliamentary Group Leader, Wimal Weerawansa said Wednesday. Delivering the keynote address at the 10th annual convention of the All Ceylon Transport Workers Union (ACTWU) at the Shalika Hall, Narahenpita, Weerawansa said the sins of the government cannot be swept under the carpet of war all the time. “A minister who crossed over from the UNP asks which country has brought down the cost of living while prosecuting a war.” He must first tell the country which country has such a large cabinet while fighting a war. As recently as last week five ministers of the Thondaman group were sworn in. New ministers accepted their old portfolios even when some of their subjects had been cut. These people have no shame, the giver and the taker. Commenting on the government’s declared stance, that the working class must not fight for their rights at a time when the government is fighting a war, Weerawansa questioned as to which country that has sworn in a cabinet of 107 ministers while fighting a war. In which country has the salaries and other perks of ministers have been increased while waging a war?“The Rajapaksa regime cannot win this struggle because it is blind to reality. What President Rajapaksa wants is to keep everybody happy so that they would forget the real issues,” Weerawansa said. The people of this country do more to defeat terrorism than their rulers. Most of the soldiers in the armed forces are children of the working class of the country. “When someone in the government is unhappy the President hands out a ministerial portfolio. There are ministers for the fields, streams and the mud. The President also has a number of portfolios. However there are only three to look after the war. The President as the Commander in Chief, his brother Gotabhaya as the Defense Secretary and Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka as Deputy Defense Minister,” Weerawansa charged.Referring to a request by President Mahinda Rajapaksa for the JVP to re-join the govt. made at a Vap Magul ceremony recently, Weerawansa remarked, “Bring down the number of ministers and show the genuineness of the government and then the support of the JVP may be offered.”Reiterating the JVP’s opposition to the involvement of foreign elements in Sri Lankan domestic affairs, he said since of late there has been a lot of concern among foreigners on human rights abuses here. A couple of days ago a lady called Louise Arbour came here to look into what she called human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Then there was that man called Novac. Another foreigner is due here shortly. But none of these people who espouse the cause human rights came here when 60000 youth were brutally murdered during 89/90 period. They did not talk about the human rights of those who were burnt on the roadside and floated in rivers.“The government is hanging on to the war. The USA, EU, Japan and all other countries are asking the government to begin peace talks if the government expects aid from them. So the government has turned to private loans from commercial banks,” Weerawansa pointed out.Paying tribute to transport workers, the JVP parliamentarian said the responsibility of the membership is to save this country from its present precarious situation that has been created by the open economy. The open economy introduced 30 years ago has been proved a failure. Under the open economy all valuable state assets have been sold and the income to the government has been sharply dwindled.

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Kingsly said:

See what we mean. They thrive on war, misery and pestilence. that is their life-line. They have discovered unending supply of materials to create ultimate hellhole of a country.

2007-10-19 17:26:17

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