Minister of Regional Development Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka said that a certain Minister threatened to resign from the Cabinet and also from the UNP if he was allowed to join the party.

Speaking to the media yesterday Fonseka said that he exposed the Minister because he was corrupt. He will continue to do so if he found that any other minister was corrupt as well, he added.

It is a well known fact that there is an ongoing acrimonious conflict between Fonseka and Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe.

Although he threatened to leave the government, he did not leave and it is not possible to chase him away, Fonseka said.

Fonseka confirmed that he will join the UNP and will accept the Kelaniya Electorate Chief Organizer post. He added that the invitation to join the UNP had come in 2010 and that he had finally taken the decision after considering all aspects.

His party also took a decision to join the UNP, he added.

Minister of Regional Development Sarath Fonseka today made a request from the President to release the LTTE operative who in prison for aiding the suicide bombing against him.

Fonseka commended President Sirisena for releasing an LTTE operative who had targeted him, and said the same could be done for 'Morris' who is in prison for the bombing at Army Headquarters.

"I have even met him while I was in prison" Fonseka said.

Fonseka said that Sirisena's move to release his would be attacker was a crucial gesture for reconciliation.

Fonseka was the target of a suicide bombing on April 25, 2006. He was severely wounded but later returned to active duty as Army Commander, leading the army in the last phase of the war against the LTTE. 

Minister of Regional Development Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka today said that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's claims regarding the present government's borrowings are false and misleading.

Rajapaksa had recently claimed that this government has borrowed more than what he had borrowed for major development work.

Fonseka, speaking at a special press conference today, said that Rajapaksa was speaking only about the major loans his government had taken. Rajapaksa has also taken foreign loans of lesser scale which he has not included in his calculations, Fonseka maintained. The government was repaying the debts and interests of numerous such loans, Fonseka added.

Meanwhile, Fonseka also said that the Rajapaksa's cronies transferred huge amounts of money borrowed for mega projects for their personal use. For example, the six lane Southern Highway was reduced to four lanes and the rest of the money just disappeared, he claimed, adding that estimating the amounts of public money stolen in this manner is not an easy task.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives today filed a Fundamental Rights Petition with the Supreme Court, challenging the appointment of Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka to Parliament through the UNP national list.

Through the petition, the CPA argues that the appointment violates Statute 99 (a) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka since Fonseka was not named in the UNP national list or a UNP district candidate list in the 2015 August General Election.

The appointment violates the fundamental rights of the petitioner and the people of Sri Lanka guaranteed under Statutes 10, 12 (1) and 14 (!) (3), the petitioner said.

The petitioner requests the Supreme Court to issue an order against the appointment of Fonseka. Further more, the petitioner requests an interim order restricting Fonseka's functioning as a MP until the determination of the petition.

UNP General Secretary Kabir Hashim, Sarath Fonseka, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, General Secretary of Parliament Dhammika Dassanayake, Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya and the Attorney General are among the eight respondents named in the petition.

Fonseka did contest the election in August 2015, but did not contest under the UNP ticket. He contested from the Colombo District from the Democratic Party, but failed to enter Parliament. He was appointed following a working agreement signed between the DP and the UNP.

The nomination by the ruling United National Party (UNP) of former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and founder of the Democratic Party Sarath Fonseka to Paliament has been criticised by the Human Rights Watch, a global human rights group based in the United States.

In a statement, HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said “Fonseka’s appointment signals that the government may protect senior military leaders suspected of widespread abuses.”

“The [Sri Lanka] government should meaningfully demonstrate to the Sri Lankan people and the UN that it is serious about accountability and not on the road to a whitewash,” he said.

Fonseka, who headed the SLA during the final years of the civil war, filled the vacancy caused by the death of Minister M.K.A.D.S.Gunawardana. Mr Fonseka, who was conferred by the present regime with the highest military rank of Field Marshal about a year ago, lost to Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2010 presidential elections and subsequently, he was a Member of Parliament briefly before being disqualified.

Breach of trust

The HRW’s official also described Mr. Fonseka’s appointment as “a breach of trust for victims and families who believed in this government’s commitment to deliver justice for war crimes.”

Responding to the criticism by the human rights group, Gallage Punyawardena, chairperson of the Swarna Hansa Foundation, a body claiming to represent interests of nationalists in Sri Lanka, termed the decision of the UNP “appropriate” and said this was done “in recognition of services rendered by the former Commander who saved the country from terrorists.” He said international community did not want persons such as Mr Fonseka to be given prominence in public life as it was keen on “dividing Sri Lanka,” Mr Punyawardena added.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the former President Rajapaksa said the government, having accepted a resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council on accountability and reconciliation, was “now adopting various strategies” to convince the public that it would not be harmful to the country.

On recent statements by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe which, Rajapaksa said, “seemed to be contradictory views” on the participation of foreign judges in the proposed war crimes mechanism, the former President described them as “just a drama for public consumption.”

(The Hindu)

The United National Party Working Committee decided to appoint Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka to the Parliament through the national list, party spokesman Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said.

The Working Committee officially made this decision today, when it convened at the Sirikotha party headquarters. Highly placed UNP sources told Asian Mirror that the former Army Commander might take oaths as a Parliamentarian tomorrow. 

Fonseka will take the place vacated by the late Minister of Lands MKADS Gunawardene. He will also be given a Cabinet portfolio to overlook welfare of soldiers and their families, government sources also added. 

The UNP and the Democratic Party led by Fonseka came to a Working Agreement on February 3.

The Democratic Party signed a Collective Agreement with the UNP a short while ago at the Temple Trees.

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe signed the agreement for the DP and the UNP respectively.

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka's Democratic Party will join the United National Party on Wednesday, political sources said.

A MoU is expected to be signed between the two parties on Wednesday, formalising the joining of the DP to the UNP.

Fonseka is likely to be appointed as a national list MP in the coming days. He will occupy the seat left vacant by the demise of the former Minister of Lands MKADS Gunawardena.

Democratic Party leader Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka requested the President and the Prime Miister to remove the likes of Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe in order to establish good governance in the country.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Fonseka said that Rajapakshe was a serious obstacle to the establishment of good governance.

People voted for President Sirisena to establish good governance, Fonseka recalled, adding that Rajapakshe was acting contrary to those aspirations.

Fonseka pointed out that Rajapakshe had not acted against the Avant-Garde Maritime Services company due to personal connections.

Although the Attorney General gave instructions to arrest MP Hirunika Premachandra "within a week", he is "tongue-tied and unable to make a decision regarding the transactions of Avant-Garde amounting to millions and keeps pushing and pulling it", Fonseka told the media.

He asked if arresting Premachandra was more important than taking action against people who had allegedly threatened the national security.

Fonseka accused Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa of spreading false information on the agreement between the government and the Avant-Garde company. Rajapakshe said that the agreement consists of 3,000 pages, whereas it actually consists of merely ten pages, Fonseka claimed.

Meanwhile, Sarath Fonseka also commented on Rajapakshe's accusation that he was "mentally retarded", saying that Rajapakshe lives in freedom since the "mentally retarded" person led the army to victory against the LTTE. When someone shot at Rajapakshe's house, it was the same "mentally retarded person who arrived at the scene before anyone else did, he added.

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka today displayed some photographs of the families of Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi enjoying a holiday together, pointing out that they have been close associates for years.

He made this startling revelation at a press conference held today.

The photographs were taken at Disneyland, USA, in 2006, Fonseka claimed.

He demanded Rajapakshe to come out with the truth about his deals with Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi. If Rajapakshe is not willing to speak, he will come out with more evidence in due course, Fonseka also said.

Meanwhile, Fonseka also blamed the Attorney General for undermining the investigations in to the Avant Garde controversy, and threatened to take legal action against him once he retires in January.