Mon, 2007-10-29

Colombo, 29 October, (Asiantribune.com): The leading opposition party, the United National Party led by Ranil Wickremesinghe, has not joined in signing the joint declaration of 16 other political parties to defeat terrorism in Sri Lanka. This declaration also noted that it is responsibility of the government to ensure “the legitimate aspirations” of the Tamil-speaking peoples, which includes the Muslims.

Among the signatories are SLFP, UNP Democratic Group, MEP, LSSP, SLMC, UPF, NUA, CP and JHU. Taking a dim view of the UNP’s refusal to sign the joint declaration, commentators said that this would reinforce the public opinion that the UNP is a tool of the Tamil Tigers. They added that the UNP never had a comprehensive strategy to combat Tiger terrorism and this will be viewed by the majority as a another concession by Wickremesinghe to win votes in Tiger-controlled areas at the expense of peace and the victims of Tiger violence.

In the meantime, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a live interview telecast over Rupavahini, ITN and Swarnavahini last night said terrorism should be wiped out militarily, as it was clearly evident that the LTTE was never in search of a politically negotiated peaceful solution to the ethnic crisis.

The Defence Secretary said: “Despite the diverse interpretations of our successes and our failures, we are far more superior than the LTTE. This is what we had overlooked in the past and the battle was dragging on. However, we observe now that we have broken thespine of the LTTE. have seized much of their arms and ammunition and killed many of their cadres. They are being defeated even in the Vanni. As never in the past, we have chased after many LTTE floating weapons ships and completely destroyed them in the deep seas. We are convinced that the LTTE is now weakened.

“We should not pass this ethnic problem to the next generation,” the Defence Secretary reiterated. He pointed out that the fully dedicated and committed war heroes should be given the correct leadership and their morale boosted.