Leader of the United National Party (UNP), Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe (photo) recently appearing on pro LTTE TV channel GTV (Global Tamil Vision) sought support of LTTE remnants for UNF-TNA-JVP candidate Sarath Fonseka at the forthcoming presidential election. Giving an interview to a programme named "Freedom Struggle", Mr. Wickramasinghe said neither him nor Fonseka should be held responsible for the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers.
Asked why Tamil people should support Mr. Fonseka who was the commander of the Army during war, Mr. Wickramasinghe said that Fonseka was just carrying out the orders of the government but not fought on his own accord.
"Break down of the process was a matter between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. When they got the Tamils to boycott (2005 election), Mr. Prbhakaran have had a different option. If he didn't have option then you can't blame anyone else, certainly not the service commanders who had led his services under the instruction of the government", he said.
Explaining Mr. Fonseka's contribution in the he said that Mr. Fonseka only carried out the orders given.
"Once the government gave the order, the service commanders have to go ahead and execute it. So, he was the commander who had to execute the orders given by the government... and the government gave the timeframe, and what should be done ... and that's how the war developed", he said.
Asked whether he had any involvement in engineering the rift between Karuna Amman and Prabhakaran, Mr. Wickramasinghe said he had nothing to do with it and he should be not blamed for that.
"I have nothing to do with it, as you see Karuna today is with the government, I have not even met Karuna... Don't try to cover up everything by putting the blame on me ...Karuna is today a reality made by Mahinda Rajapaksa", he said.
Throughout the interview Mr. Wickramasinghe tried to convince the audience that unless for his defeat at the 2005 presidential election the LTTE could be still in action. Also, he said that Mr. Fonseka has been tasked only to abolish the executive presidency and once it is accomplished an executive prime minister will have the power.
GTV is a London based TV channel promoting tribalism aiming at instigating racial violence in Sri Lanka. Also, it is one of the major propaganda arms of the LTTE, carrying out false propaganda against Sri Lanka and its people.
Political experts are in the view that UNF-TNA-JVP candidate Sarath Fonseka's campaign is aimed at deceiving both Tamils and Sinahalese in the country.
"At Sinhala audiences, Fonseka tries to sell him as the only war hero who won the war singlehandedly...but for the Tamil communities he wants to show himself as a innocent government servant who had no other option than to carry out what he was asked to", one expert told defence.lk.
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See also Sydney Irresistible and for personal comment, Mike Hitchen Unleashed
Putting principles before profits