see that is also very much equal to the Eelam map

Minority Political Parties Worked On Separatism – Keheliya Rambukwella

With the defeat of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, some questioned about of the future of the SLFP and predicted change of the leadership in the SLFP. However, SLFP assured that the leadership of the SLFP will remain intact. 

Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella also said that the president right now does not have the majority in parliament to do the necessary constitutional reforms. - Excerpts of the interview:

By Waruni Karunarathne

Q: What went wrong in the presidential election?

A: Nothing went wrong. If you look at the map won by President Maithripala you can see that is also very much equal to the Eelam map. That speaks all about it. It is not an accusation. Everybody has the right to vote. It is a matter that minority political parties basically worked on separatism. Because Sampanthan is seriously talking in parliament about the division of the country and at the same time they talk about full autonomy and federal system. Chandrika being a champion of federalism I won’t be surprised at the outcome. That made the difference. 450,000 votes came from the North and East.

Q: Are you saying that their campaign appeal mostly to the minority?

A: Yes. Minority is also a separate sector.  Minority is part of the society and part of the citizens of the country. Here the ulterior motive is different.

Q: When looking at President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s campaign, many have observed that it is based on nationalistic ideology. Do you think that the nationalism lost its appeal to the people?

A: The campaign was nationalistic to some extent. The campaign is right or wrong is debatable. When you look at the votes, it is the minority vote that has put Maithripala Sirisena to the presidency. That’s okay. We have no concern on that. But that is what happened.

Q: What is the future of the SLFP? What about the leadership of the party?

A: We had the general committee meeting on Friday. It went on as usual. The leadership of the party is intact. The president of the party chaired that meeting and it went on as usual.

Q: What are the concerns SLFP has right now after losing the election?

A: Concerns are not with the SLFP. Concerns are as how to govern the country. They don’t have a majority in parliament. All though the President took over, the Prime Minister does not have the command of the majority in the parliament. Even for the simple majority they need 113. I do not know whether they will get the majority or not. But right now they do not have the majority.

Q: How supportive would you be towards the constitutional reforms that the new president has suggested?

A: Those pledges are made by the new president. You will have to ask them what they are going to do about it. We have not seen the reforms that they have suggested. It has to come in a form of a resolution. So far what we have is a line of pledges. Those need to come in form of a resolution through the party. Then we will talk about as to we would support it or not.

Q: Charges against corruption played a quite a big role in their election campaign to turn the voter-base against the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. As a current Minister how do you expect to address those concerns?

A: Anybody can say one is corrupted. But they need to prove it. You should ask them as to what they want to do about those. They are the ones who are making all sorts of allegations about corruptions and those will remain as allegations.