Ruwan launches broadside against MR

State Minister of Defence, Ruwan Wijewardene, yesterday issued a statement condemning the recent outburst of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his campaign for the upcoming general election.

“The people of this country on 17 August should take the decision to make sure that people of this calibre who make such uncivilised statements in the form of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his cohorts are permanently swept away from the political arena of this country,” claimed Wijewardene.

Following is his full statement.

We are used to a saying in Sinhala that “utterances lead us to situations both good and bad.” The truth of this is amply proved by the statements that are being made by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Recently, he had given an interpretation to the position of the Head of State which cannot be accepted in any civilised society. 

Furthermore, it is a grave insult to the great kings of the ancient past who have behind them a proud history. Mahinda Rajapaksa by taking him as an example has attached a tagline to define the Head of State as The Best Head of State - The Best Rogue. This is an attempt by him to make a mockery of the allegations of fraud and corruption levelled against him and his family; by doing so he only treats with utter contempt the moral values of our country.

Can we apply Mahinda Rajapaksa’s definition of a Head of State to our Heads of State in the independent Sri Lanka; to the calibre of Sir John Kotalawala who handed over his palatial house and 50 acres of land to the Government, Dudley Senanayake who had only Rs. 500 left with him at the time of his demise, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who mortgaged his Rosmead Place house to serve the country. President J.R. Jayawardene, who donated his house for the use of service to the people. Sirimavo Bandaranaike who transferred to the Government thousands of acres of land owned by her.

Mahinda Rajapaksa utilised state resources for the luxury of his family and himself and siphoned off billions of rupees from the Ports Authority, Sri Lanka Telecommunication and the Sri Lanka Telecommunication Regulatory Commission for his election propaganda work at the last presidential election. 

So it would not be surprising if he states tomorrow that the best public officers are the best rogues. That would allow those public officers who were party to his illegal, anti-social and corrupt deals to use the tagline, ‘Best Public Officer - The Best Rogue’. Leaders of a country should be cautious in their utterances and deeds because they are the people who set examples and guide their followers.

At this juncture, when efforts are being made to introduce and strengthen good governance, these type of statements by Mahinda Rajapaksa are acts tantamount to teasing the fundamentals of good governance. 

In world history we have heard statements of this type by extremely corrupt, dictatorial, ruthless rulers such as Hitler, Mussolini, Marcos, Pol Pot, Hosni Mubarak, Idi Amin and Gadaffi.

The people of this country on 17 August should take the decision to make sure that people of this caliber, who make such uncivilised statements in the form of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his cohorts, are permanently swept away from the political arena of this country.