Malicious propaganda

By Mangala Samaraweera
(Co-Media Person for General Sarath Fonseka)

(January 11, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) In the face of its inevitable defeat, the Mahinda Rajapakse regime has been resorting to various desperate tactics to create confusion in the minds of the general public.

A malicious and fabricated news item, ‘Mangala not pleased with Fonseka - TNA agreement’ has been deliberately planted in a website that is known for its partisan views. This report has been ably backed up by a SMS campaign which claims that I have “stepped back from the campaign due to differences of opinions” and that I have blamed the opposition UNP for “entering into a controversial agreement with TNA”.

This fabricated news item also states that I am “disappointed over the contents of the controversial agreement” and states that I complained that “I wasn’t even informed about this agreement which was signed in UNP MP Ravi Karunanayaka's residence in Colombo”. The article then concludes by saying that I have “not participated in election rallies held last few days to support retired General Fonseka and even has refrained [my self] from organizing daily press conferences in Colombo.”
For those who have been misled to believe in this fantastical piece of journalism I would like to make some clarifications:

1. To begin with there is no agreement between General Sarath Fonseka and the TNA, just as there are no agreements between the General and the UNF or the JVP. This is as we all believe that General Fonseka is a man of honour and a man of his word. All parties have concurred that there is no need for an agreement, secret or otherwise, with our common candidate. The only agreement which all parties have consented to has been the Ten Point Plan which deals with the restoration of democratic rights to the people as well as the elimination of corruption. The TNA too decided to extend its support to General Fonseka after he presented his immediate measures for dealing with the war affected people in Jaffna 10 days ago. This Ten Point program has been released to the public.

2. I have always had nothing but admiration and respect for the many longstanding politicians of the TNA who have had the courage of their convictions for standing up for what they believe in, even while being sandwiched between a terrorist group and an equally ruthless and brutal government during the last four years. Some of the most senior and respected politicians of the Tamil community today are R. Sampanthan, Mavi Senadirajah, Suresh Premachandran and other TNA members, who have contributed immensely to the parliamentary process over the years. This is why the TNA remains the most popular Tamil political party in the north and the east. I consider it a privilege to have known them as fellow parliamentarians.

3. The words attributed to me in this article are a total fabrication as is the meeting which is claimed to have taken place at MP Ravi Karunayaka’s residence. In fact several of the meetings where the possibility of working with the TNA was discussed I too was present along with the leader of the opposition.

4. I still continue to have bi-weekly press conferences with Hon. Anura Dissanayake as co-spokesman for our Presidential candidate and have never had daily conferences as claimed by Colombo Page. The reason that I have not participated in the election rallies is because I have been conducting pocket meetings in my own constituency and other areas of the country to secure a record breaking victory for General Sarath Fonseka. In fact over the last weekend I attended 61 such pocket meetings in the Matara district alone.

General Sarath Fonseka in this very short period of 44 days has managed to unite and bring together representatives of various political philosophies and ethnic communities onto a common platform of democracy, good governance and economic prosperity.

Sri Lanka’s single largest political party, the UNP, and the Third Force – the JVP, coming on to a common platform is a historic moment in its self. This, along with the support extended from the TNA and several other major parties has allowed General Fonseka to build the broadest political coalition ever seen in this country. It is in this context that the desperation of the Rajapakse regime has increased and they are also resorting to creating fear in the minds of the people by claiming that the TNA has links to the LTTE.

However, the intelligent people of Sri Lanka, I am sure, are amused by these accusations as it is the same Mahinda Rajapakse who tried to lure the TNA to his own coalition with promises of cabinet ministries and other privileges just two weeks ago.