John Amaratunga confident of UNP victory, terms polls a one-horse race

The Government is not engaged in a political witch-hunt, but will continue to reveal information about corrupt politicians in the previous regime to bring them before the law, Minister of Public Order and Christian Affairs John Amaratunga said.

“Some of the top people in the previous Government are seeking the help of the Supreme Court and High Court to get stay orders to avoid arrest. But once the elections are over, we will take each one of them to task. They can’t escape,” he told the Daily FT.

Following are the excerpts of the interview: 

Minister of Public Order and Christian Affairs John Amaratunga

By Shanika Sriyananda

Q: The Opposition claims that there is no significant change under this Government but it is only taking political revenge from those who were in the previous Government. What is your stance?

A: I strongly refute that allegation. The present Government is not involving or encouraging political revenge which took place during the past regime. Just because a person is taken into custody we don’t claim that he is involved in corruption. We need good evidence to prove his involvement in those corrupt practices that took place in the past regime. That is why we are investigating those allegations thoroughly. 

 

Q: You were very vociferous in speaking about politicians who were involved in corruption, shady deals and killing of some people, including journalists. Why you are silent now?

A: I am not silent but heavily involved in the election campaign. I have given proper directives and the investigators are engaged in probing those cases. The only unfortunate thing is that some of the top people in the previous Government are seeking the help of the Supreme Court and High Court to get stay orders to avoid arrest. But once the elections are over, we will take each one of them to task. They can’t escape. 

The officials are trying their very best to get to the bottom of the murder cases, especially the assassination of journalists, to know who orchestrated and instigated the murders, who was behind them. For example, those who shot Parliamentarian Raviraj have been arrested and identified as Navy personnel. Why should Navy personnel shoot politicians, unless there was somebody who would have given instructions for them to kill him? The suspects are still not coming out with the names about who instructed them to carry out the mission but we are continuing with the investigations.

 

Q: Do you have information about military involvement in such attacks and assassinations?

A: It is a known fact that the previous regime used military personnel for these assassinations. It has been further established by the arrests that we made. Mostly they are Navy people and some are from the other armed forces. These investigations are pending and we can’t randomly take people into custody. We need good evidence supported by documents before a person is taken into custody. This is called good governance. We will not take haphazard or random decisions to prove these allegations. 

This process is not a political witch-hunt as the Opposition claims. Bringing corrupt people to book was one pledge that people asked during the last presidential elections and we are trying our best to fulfil that promise. There are heaps of information pouring into the Financial Crime Investigation Division (FCID) which is established under my Ministry. They are going into cases one by one, probing both politicians and officials who were engaged in corruption during the MR regime.

Q: What is the progress of the FCID investigations and can they conclude their investigations before the elections?

A: No, it is not possible to finish all the investigations before the elections as such a large number of information on tender procedure violations, corruption in some of the development programs, bribes and some of the major financial frauds in State departments are coming into the FCID. With the change of government, people who are working in State departments and those who opposed the stealing of public money by the previous Government are passing information about corrupt deals and projects done by the previous Government. However, some documents containing information relating to various projects are missing. The officers in the FCID are working very hard round the clock to investigate these allegations but the problem is we don’t have enough officials to investigate all complaints that are coming in large numbers.

 

Q: There is an advertisement by the Opposition, ‘100 lies within 100 days’. What is your comment?

A: It is a political gimmick and I have nothing else to say. Out of what we promised to do within 100 days, we have been able to implement 70-80% of the tasks. The rest is the pipeline and we will implement them after the polls. We have given financial relief to the people. Now the people are concerned about sustaining and preserving the benefits we offered to them. The previous Government didn’t want to implement the steps to pass the benefits to the people as they wanted to use the benefits for their luxurious lifestyles.

 

Q: There are some allegations that some politicians are still using State resources in their election campaigns. What are the steps being taken against them?

A: Vehicle permissions are given on payments. They deposit money before taking the vehicle. I know that none of the Ministers in our Government are using the staffers of the Ministry in election work. However, we as the Ministers who are still working in our ministries have to use our staffers in the work related to our ministries. For example, I still need my Ministry staffers to do my work – programs related to the Ministry, but I don’t use them in the election campaign. A circular has already been released to hand over vehicles given to ministers and the private secretaries. Most of them are returning their vehicles. There are no legal provisions to take action against those who are still using vehicles but it is ethical for them to follow the circular as responsible politicians.

 

Q: With two white van incidents, people are beginning to panic again. What action is being taken to prevent such incidents from happening again?

A: The suspects have been taken into custody and investigations are going on. Both incidents showed the habit of the past regime. They are trying to reintroduce such incidents to embarrass the Government. The danger is that we don’t know whether they are targeting the Government Ministers and top officials. There are people who are trained and keener to resort to such action. But we assure the people that the white van phobia will not be there under our Government. 

 

Q: The Chief of the National Dangerous Drug Control Board has revealed that there are over 25 Parliamentarians who are heavily involved in the narcotics trade. How confident are you that no UNP MPs are among them?

A: To my knowledge there isn’t a single UNPer on that list. I am confident about that. People know that there are severe allegations against former ministers and the saddest thing is that they are contesting from the UPFA. Among those who are contesting is a popular drug kingpin. There are many names of politicians who are involved in the narcotics trade and we have not yet revealed their names to the public, but we will reveal their names soon.

If a name of a UNP candidate who is contesting is found on this list, we can’t delist him but will ensure that person will not get any portfolio in the next Parliament and those elected UNP MPs will be punished when further inquiries are carried out.

 

Q: The NDDCB Chairman has complained that his life is under threat. What are the steps taken to safeguard these officials?

A: We ensured his safety by providing him with three STF officers. I must say that these threats should come to me as the subject minister who gave directives to do this investigation. So far with the help of God nothing happened to me.

 

Q: The Opposition says former the President will be the prime minister; do you think that given the present political situation, the UNP will have a chance to record a victory at the forthcoming elections?

A: This is a drama and the reality is different. When you look at the UPFA activities, they have a very lethargic political situation. They even don’t have much people for the election campaign. It shows that they have already given up the race. The former President might be elected to Parliament but that is it and no further. The UNP is very confident of winning the elections and it is really a one-horse race at the forthcoming polls.

 

Q: The UNP calls youth for more youth representation; how this will affect seniors like you in the party in contesting the polls?

A: I have no threat from any of the juniors. I have been in politics for the last 37 years and I have been holding very important portfolios. People have lots of confidence in me and a lot of regard for me. They look after me and carry their problems to me to seek solutions as they are confident that I will look after them. I am happy and encouraging the youth to engage in politics as they are our future. As the District Leader of the Gampaha, I give them all the support to get them elected.

 

Q: Gampaha is the stronghold of former Minister Basil Rajapaksa; will it be an easy task for you to win over the people of Gampaha?

A: Basil Rajapaksa can’t face his people as he facing allegations. There is no leadership now from the UPFA in Gampaha District. Even the Chief Minister is under investigation for bribery issues. Twenty-one of the UPFA candidates are convicted for various crimes. The UNP has a very clean list from Gampaha District and we are confident of our victory. 

 

Q: What do you have to say about your contribution as the Minister of Public Order and Christian Religious Affairs? 

A: I am happy about what I did during this short period as the Minister. The Police service was a disgruntled service during the last regime. All the emphasis was given to the armed forces. Now we have created a separate ministry to look after the welfare of the Police. We give them assistance to maintain a public-friendly Police service. We have placed Police transfers on an independent basis and promotions are also done strictly according to the rules and regulations of the Police without any political influence. 

We are trying to give the officers who have served over 22 years the right to retire, similar to those in the armed forces. We are planning to give them salary increments and motorcycles and are also looking into the possibility of setting up housing schemes for them. We have made the Police services a contended service. 

Regarding immigration and emigration, we have started the dual citizenship program. A large number of people are submitting their applications. We have introduced biometrics into the passport to prevent people from having two passports. The efficiency of the Department has been enhanced to provide a quality service. We introduced biometrics to the Department of Registration of Persons so no person can impersonate or have two National Identity Cards. 

I am also in charge of Christian Affairs. We are looking after all the segments of Christians and other groups. We are trying to bring them together under one banner so there can’t be conflicts among them.

The NDDCB is doing a wonderful program to educate people around the country about the drug menace. We educate both parents and children. While we are rehabilitating drug addicts, the Police is carrying out detections under a separate division established to nab drug dealers. We have done some large detections but there has been a huge haul that has come into the country during the past regime. Now we are raiding the places where these drugs are hidden. We have been able to arrest some of the leading drug traffickers from Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Investigations are progressing.

 

Q: You highlighted how the welfare of Police officers is being looked into, but what are the steps being taken to provide a quality service to the people?

A: The present Inspector General of Police places a lot of emphasis on discipline and is keeping a close eye on the behaviour of all the Police personnel. We are also planning to establish a university for the Policemen to help them in their higher studies. We hope that when they are further educated, the quality of their service will be enhanced. However, I agree there are some corrupt individuals in the Police force, but when they are drawing a decent salary once we increase their salaries, they will not engage in corruption. I also want them to be professionally qualified to provide a quality service.

 

Q: What is the future of the UNP, which was struggling to come into power for many years?

A: The UNP manifesto is a wonderful document which is promising to fulfil every essential need of the people of this country. People were suffering due to the faulty administration of the previous regime. We are going to ratify the mistakes and put the country on a firm footing to develop the economy and infrastructure, improve the education, health services and safety of people and eradicate corruption. We have a bright future in politics and we will definitely come into power again after 17 August. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe is one of the finest leaders that you can find in Sri Lanka. He is a very knowledgeable and honourable leader and I can assure that with his experience he can put the country on par with the rest of the world. 

 

Q: As the Minister of Public Order, how will you ensure a free and fair election on 17 August? 

A: At the moment, the Police is very strict in enforcing the law following the directions of the Elections Commissioner. The Police has removed even my posters put up by my supporters in some places which prohibit posters. The Police have not even spared me as the Minister in charge of the Police and all my posters have been removed. I don’t influence the Police to keep my posters and I told my supporters ‘please don’t embarrass me by putting up those posters in prohibited places’.