In an interview published in The Daily Mirror on 8 November, journalist Champika Liyanaarachchi spoke with UNP Member of Parliament, Milinda Moragoda, to discuss Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidential campaign. Moragoda confirmed that the UNP was behind the creation of the Karuna Group stating, “Karuna is a product of the peace process for which the UNP had made the bulk of the contributions.”
Moragoda implied the ceasefire agreement and peace process’ goal is to weaken the LTTE and disagreed with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that the disarmament of paramilitary groups is violation of the ceasefire agreement.
When asked about the fate of the Karuna Group in the event of Wickremesinghe’s win, Moragoda claimed that the Karuna Group was a product of the peace process of which the UNP was instrumental in creating. Moragoda asserted that the government delegation of the peace talks predicted the creation of Karuna Group. Fellow UNP leader Naveen Dissanayake also claimed in a recent campaign speech in Hatton that UNP created the Karuna faction.
Moragoda spoke about Wickremesinghe “creating the right environment” so “even a cadre who had seen all these positive changes would think twice because he has been offered an alternative to their resolve to die for a cause.” Moragoda insinuated that the “right environment” is one which undermines the people’s resolve to struggle. Moragoda claimed that the role of the peace process and “silencing guns, opening roads and removing barricades” will weaken the LTTE, and not offer any means that will engage them in the peace process. In addition to his statements on weakening the LTTE, Moragoda acknowledged their role in “intercepting (destroying) several LTTE ships with the help of an international intelligence network.” He added that the SLA will not be downsized and in fact will be built up by acquiring more human and material resources.
In discussing the implementation of disarming paramilitary groups, Moragoda referred to this as a “law and order issue than anything else,” and disregarded paramilitary presence as a ceasefire violation. The SLMM has recently urged the government to disband paramilitary groups working in government controlled areas. In declaring Wickremesinghe’s importance of being “guided by a certain set of values based on the local culture,” Moragoda compared Wickremesinghe to the liking of U.S. President George Bush, pointing out that “the conservative values of President George Bush more than anything else that assured his re-election.”
(http://www.ltteps.org/?folder=3&view=964)
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