Former Army Commander and leader of the Democratic Party Sarath Fonseka has dubbed Tissa Attanayake’s crossover to the government as nothing short of a disgrace to all politicians of the opposition.

Fonseka’s deputy Jayantha Ketagoda too shifted his allegiance yesterday and extended his support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, along with the former General Secretary of the United National Party.

“Attanayake chose the wrong time to give in to the “bribes” of the ruling party. This is a time when the people of the country expect their leaders to act in an exemplary manner,” Fonseka said speaking to reporters at the Opposition’s Leader’s Office yesterday.  

“Today we witnessed what true cowardliness is, both the former UNP Generala Secretary and a member of my party abandoned their policies for the perks and privileges offered by the ruling party”, Fonseka said yesterday, adding that it was high time to change the present political trend.

“The present government was built on bribes and they control the entire country through bribes and extortion. It is truly pathetic to see members of the opposition give in to the corrupt agendas of the government”, he added. However, the Democratic Party leader made no reference to the people who acted as go-betweens of the two crossovers.

It is widely speculated that a Parliamentarian of the opposition, who was a close associate of Fonseka at one point, acted as the ‘go-between’ of the process.

Sarath Fonseka said that as a politician he is ashamed of the people who switched their allegiance for money. However, the politicians who crossed over flatly denied the charges that they accepted money and other privileges from the government.