Denying claims that it was the Jathika Hela Urumaya who pushed President Mahinda Rajapaksa towards the final phase of war, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday said that the timelines of the final battle was decided by the President himself.

“No one asked him to do this and that. It was the President himself who made the political decision and it was done according to his line of thinking,” the Defence Secretary said addressing a meeting organized by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in Homagama.

“After appointing Lalith Weeratunga as the Secretary to the President, he appointed me as the Secretary of the Defence Ministry. No one asked him to do so and it was his own decision,” the Defence Secretary explained.

“Then he made a plan to end the Eelam war and based on that he had discussions with Indian authorities. Following the discussions, he gave ‘peace’ a chance and went for negotiations with the LTTE as the first measure. He resorted to war when all the other options were closed,” Rajapaksa said.

He made these remarks responding to the claims made by the JHU that they were the party who guided the UPFA government in the direction of the final phase of war. Rajapaksa asserted that no party could claim ownership for the victory of war as it was the brainchild of President Rajapaksa.

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena and Western Provincial Council member Gamini Thilakasiri were also present at the event.

Meanwhile, while speaking during a political programme on Sirasa TV, former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka said the Executive President made no role in the final battle, apart from making the political decision to wage war.

“The Army Commander was the main architect of the battle. I made decisions on the placement of the troops, their movements, their operations and everything. If there is someone who is going to sit on the electric chair on behalf of the troops it should be the Army commander. Politicians don’t have to worry if they have not given wrong orders,” the former Army Commander said.