UNP Member of Parliament Milinda Moragoda says Sri Lanka will keep gown on a slippery slope until the south unites and work together. In an interview with the ‘Weekend Standard’, Moragoda said that certain people accused the UNP of appeasing the LTTE but, with no relevance and Ranil Wickremasinghe’s principle vision of being a unifier is the strongest message the party can carry to the people.

“People are using on platforms words like appeasement here with no relevance. Finally who pays the price for it? Are the people who flight on platforms sending their children to fight the war? How many of them have done it? Are we taking the business of war seriously? Or are we taking war as a business” questions Moragoda.

Q: Ranil Wickremasinghe has gone on record saying he will work with the JVP if he is elected. Then he goes on to blame the JVP of killings. How can he work with them if he continues to play this blame game?

Mr. Wickramasighe’s vision is really to change the political culture and to unite what is essentially a divided country. The country that is divided on race, caste and religion. It is a huge challenge. Our politics, the culture we have is blaming each other for everything. I believe that Mr. Wickremasinghe even in this campaign and even before have been able to hold the moral ground, even during difficult times he has held the moral high grounds. If elected, he wants to unite the country and bring everybody together. So I hope even the society will have the maturity to do that.

Q: But, he is pointing fingers at the JVP?

Finger pointing goes on. But, in my view he holds the moral high ground. If you look at what the JVP and other say on the platform personally, Mr. Wickremasinghe has not gone to that level. He has kept the debate at a level which I believe is respectable. He has not got to the level of ridiculing and humiliating people. I believe that he has the maturity and the statesmanship if elected to move towards changing this culture. If we don’t change this culture and unite this country, this country will definitely disintegrate. I have no doubt about that.

Q: Can he really do that?

I think all of us must work together to do that. He can give the leadership, he can give the vision. But, if we all don’t work together as a country, as a society, as a team we cannot achieve that.

Q: But, there is a fear that he will become a dictator if elected.

I think everybody has different views about individuals. I may think that somebody else may end up as a dictator. He has a very clear vision which is set out. He has always proven himself whenever the opportunity was presented itself, to be a liberal democrat when he looks at issues. Sometimes I believe that he looks at issues more liberally than I do.

Q: People are not aware of all that. They see him as a very aloof kind of person and some one who is hardened? .

I think it depends where you are standing. In Sri Lanka we have two camps. A UNP camp and a SLFP camp. If you are in one camp you see the other camp as a caricature of what they really are.

Q: Wickremasinghe is seen as some one who has gone out of his way to appease the LTTE. There is another concern that, if elected he would divide the country.

It is again a matter of perceptive. How you define appeasement and where you are standing on the issue. He took over the country as Prime Minister under very difficult circumstances. What we had was a divided country. Divided in every form, our geography was divided. We had LTTE held areas, government controlled areas, cleared and uncleared areas and whatever you want to call, but, the reality was certain areas were not under the control of the government. Similarly the society was divided and it was difficult if you were a Tamil. It is understood also because terrorism creates situations like this. Therefore his challenge was to unite the country. The first step he took was to sign the Ceasefire Agreement. Many criticized that. But, if you look today we continue around the same road. Mrs. Kumaratunga was trapped and so was Mr. Wickremasinghe because southern politics prevailed over all that, governments changed and she had to continue along the same way. Tomorrow if Mr. Rajapakse is elected he will also have no option. Unless the south unites and work together, I believe we will keep on going down on a slippery slope. Mr. Wickremasinghe principle vision of being a unifier is the strongest message we can carry to the people. People are using this platform words like appeasement here with no relevance. Finally who pays the price for it? Are the people who flight on platforms sending their children to fight the war? How many of them have done it? Are we taking the business of war seriously? Or are we taking war as a business. The word appeasement is a fashionable word in some circles.


Q: The UNP is considered close to the IMF and the World Bank and also identified as a capitalist party. How could you then implement your populist manifesto?

I think again everybody is using words such as capitalism, socialism, IMF, WB and others very freely. Today there is only one path to economic development. Each country, each society basically will have to design its own routes on how they get there. But, the main road and the direction is the same. What is suitable for Bangkok or India may not be suitable for us. There is a saying that those who look for a third way out side the main road that is available will end up as the third world. Look at our history, in 1994 the PA government said they are going to introduce capitalism with a human face, finally did you see a difference between what we did before 1994. In 2004 there was lot of talk about a national economy and what they were going to do. What is the reality today? They are following the same path. Today again we are using these words. So basically the direction is the same. But, globalization present challenges and I accept that. One of the main challenges is the challenge to identity and there we have to realize on side what kid of economic model we want to and secondly fit it in with how do we ensure that our culture and our identity is not disturbed or dissolved by trying to follow that model. India has offered a fine example how one could keep its identity and follow a path they want to. They have a Prime Minister who is former WB official. Pakistan as a PM who was a former VC of the City Bank. We are dealing with a totally different world. We have to be broader in our thinking?

Q: Can you bring this Parakum Yugaya back as promised?

That also have to be looked at in the context we presented it. Parakramabahu was a unifier; he also did tremendous work for agriculture, irrigation and on our culture. But, above all he was a unifier. We should start from the unification of our country. That was a period lot of things happened in the country. We had our pride at the time. People must see it like that, not just narrowly