I want to enter parliament

By Ramesh Waralegama

Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) leader, the controversial Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna, who returned from England after being in custody for immigration violations, in an interview with LAKBIMAnEWS said that he is the sole leader of the TMVP and that party problems have been settled. Excerpts of the interview

Ln: Have the policies of the TMVP changed after you were deported to Sri Lanka?
VM: There was no such change. The main aim of the TMVP is to help the Eastern people and secure their liberty from the clutches of the LTTE. We want to bring prosperity to the lives of the eastern people. Policies of my party will not change just because I came from the UK. We must support the people who wish for our success.

Ln: That means you expect a bright future for the TMVP?
VM: Yes, yes. We are doing the groundwork to contest the next general election. Actually we are preparing for that now. We are planning to get at least 10 MPs from our party elected.

Ln: Can you indeed achieve this goal because the TMVP did not receive any overwhelming people’s support at the recently held Eastern elections.
VM: Eastern people have confidence in our party. That is proven with the local government and provincial council elections. Nobody can undermine the votes we received. People who have never voted in their lives voted for us. The rejection rate of the votes was high as people had made mistakes when voting.. Basically Eastern people are with us. There was a lot of misunderstanding about our party in the part of Trincomalee people. Now police have uncovered the truth behind certain acts. If our party men are involved in such acts, we will apologise to the people and seek future endeavours in democratic politics

Ln: There were so many changes in the Eastern province when you were in England. How did you feel when you returned to Batticaloa?
VM: I spent about one week in Colombo after returning from England. I went to Batticaloa last 14th. Thereafter, I visited the Thoppigala and the Meenagam bases. I met police officers, government servants and many others in the last few days. The Eastern people say that they enjoy freedom. Earlier they could not get on the roads after 6.00 pm. Now people plough their paddy fields. Some engage in fishing. I saw it with my own eyes. Actually that is what people want. Their main problems are abductions and difficulties faced at checkpoints. I will take up these issues with the government. I am sure the government will look into all this. I will also visit the Ampara and Trincomalee people. I must thank them for the victory they gave us at the past elections. Now my duty is to address their grievances.

Ln: Are you satisfied with the development work of the government in the East?
VM: The TMVP has joined the UPFA alliance already. We are really happy about the work of the government on behalf of our people. When I met government officials they educated me about the future plans for the Eastern province. The education, agriculture, fisheries, health and basic infrastructure aspects in the eastern province should be improved. We have to improve the quality of lives of the people. The government helps us a lot to assist poor families. The TMVP is cordially working with the government. I must specially tell you that President Mahinda Rajapaksa likes my leadership. That could help him to serve the Eastern people.

Ln: Did you have a leadership crisis when you left the country with Chief Minister Pillayan? Has it been ironed out now?
VM: You must understand that the TMVP is a political party like other parties. As usual we also have differences of opinion. That is the truth. It is not a crisis. I am the sole leader of the TMVP. Nobody in our party is against it. Before my departure to England I advised my party seniors how to run party affairs. I had no objection to Pillayan getting elected as the Chief Minister as I did not want get into the Provincial Council. What I want is to get into parliament and serve my people.

Ln: Do you have the support of the majority of the Politburo of your party?
VM: The TVMP created two administrative sections to take decisions, allowing a secondary leadership to emerge. The main politburo has 15 members and the Working Committee has 21. With the support of these members we are planning to strengthen the party and embark on a new path.

Ln: Though the Eastern province was rescued from the clutches of the LTTE, still there are attacks by LTTE cadres. How will that affect the future of the TMVP?
VM: Few LTTE cadres are still in certain places in the Eastern province. I don’t say it is untrue. They carry out some attacks on the Army and Police officers. But one thing I assure you is that the LTTE will never be able to gain control of the Eastern Province again. They can’t organise and attack the Eastern province on a large scale. Some people still support them for money.

Ln: Some newspapers reported that you got caught in an Immigration trap of the Sri Lankan Government. What do you say about it?
VM: I went to London to visit my family. The British Police arrested me for a precaution I took in the interests of my security. The Government has no link to this incident. I did it for my security purposes. I don’t believe there was such a conspiracy. I told British Police that after my sentence, I want to return to my country and that I don’t like to live in another country. That is why I returned to this country and went to the East as soon as I got here.

Ln: The Army is now engaged in the Vanni operation. How do you assess the LTTE strength?

VM: The Government troops captured Vedithalthivu in Mannar. That is the nerve centre of that area. Now the troops can move forward on the A-32 road. I believe the LTTE is in a real mess after losing the Vedithalthivu. The present crisis in the LTTE is the dearth of
cadres though they have enough arms. The Army has blocked armed supplies from one side and manpower from the other side. The LTTE is also not getting enough foreign assistance. So, I believe that the Army will recover the Vanni soon. The TVMP cadres are not involved in the Vanni operation. The Army does not need our support. The Army has improved in strength and strategies.

Ln: Do you provide proposals to the APRC. How is TMVP’s participation there?
VM: Our Batticaloa Mayor Shivagitha Prabhakaran participates in the APRC meetings. In addition to her, we will try to send two more participants. We will take that decision on Tuesday.

Ln: There was a rumour that you will rejoin the LTTE. What is the truth?
VM: When the LTTE gets weaker and weaker they spread this kind of rumour as a psychological ploy. There is no truth to it. We are not going to arrest LTTE cadres in the East. The security forces are doing it. We are a political party now.