Frontline – July 05, 2019

thishappens,theneverybody[locals]comesandjust
watches....Thepolicetookintocustody quitea few
peoplewhohadcomeoutof curiosityto watch. That
createdthe problemthere.

Whenyou left office,you statedthat peoplewerefree of
the scourgeof terrorism.Whatwentwrong?
Therewereno issuesrelatingto terrorismwhenI
left....For10 years—therewasonlyonemonth to go for
10 yearsof peace—there wasno problem.Unfortunately,
thishashappened now.
Wewarned themaboutthe dangersof loweringthe
guardacrossthe country. Whathappenedwasthe intelli-
genceservices,whichwerehandledby the military—and
it wasthelargest intelligenceservicethatwe had—the
authoritiesjustpulledthemout.Theexperiencedofficers
weresentout.Someare in remand.Theywereremanded
for thingssuchas keepingsomesuspect withouta war-
rant.So theywerecharged.As manyas 48 officerswere
chargedwithvarious offences.Andsomeotherofficers
weretransferredout.Theseare the thingsthathappened.
Thenthe governmentgavethesepowersto the police.
Theysaidthatthe armymustnotdo thesethings,thisis
policework.As it is, the policehaveenough workto look
afterlawandorder.... Theotherproblemwasthatthe
policedid notlookfor intelligence on suspiciousactivity
acrossSri Lanka, theyweregoingafterus. Theywanted
to nailus, the Rajapaksas. So, theyhadno timeto lookfor
terrormodules or anythingelse.

You thinkthat the existenceof two powercentres,one
aroundthe Presidentand the otheraroundthe Prime
Minister,is at the bottomof poorgovernance?Whatcan

be the solution?

Yes.Eitherthe presidentialsystemmust comeback

or parliamentarysystemshouldbe adopted. Themajor-

ity wantstheparliamentary system.Now,no one[who

waspartof the government]cancomeout andsay,I was

againstit andI am notresponsiblefor this.Theyare all

partof thegovernment.Theyareall in thesameboat,

sailing withRanil[Wickremesinghe].

Whatwill be the role of Tamilsand Muslimsin a new

government in whichyou havea role?Who will these

minoritycommunitiesprefer?

ThistimeI thinktherewillbe a change.I don’tthink

theywillgo backto the samepeople[votefor the United

NationalParty].... Theyall should be moderate andthink

thattheyare livingin Sri Lankaandthattheyare partof

oneSri Lanka.

Whatdo you think of the fast organisedby a monkin

Kandydemandingthe resignationof two Muslim

Governorsand a Minister?And the threatsthat some

far-rightmonksare holdingout?

Whenelectiontimecomes,therewillbe a lot of

peoplewhowillcomeout.

In this situation,wherethe presidentialelectionis about

six monthsaway,do you or yourcoalitionhavea

candidatein mind?

Ido not have a candidateas such.ButI will selectthe

bestcandidatewhocan win.We are partof a coalition.We

willgettogether,andI do notwantto nameanyone

withouta consensusandtakecredit for it. We willdiscuss.

WhenI meet people, I checkwiththemon suitabilityof

RAJAPAKSAWITH

HISBROTHERS

GotabayaRajapaksa

(centre), formerDefence

Secretary, andBasil

Rajapaksa, a former

Minister.Afile

photograph.

ERANG

AJAYAWARDE

NA/

AP