CBK questions votes given for war victory

Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga has questioned the rationale by some voters to back former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at elections on the basis that he won the war.

Speaking at an event in Kurunegala,?Kumaratunga said that if people are going to vote for Rajapaksa simply since he won the war, then they must vote for her and former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka since they too had a role to play.

Kumaratunga said that Rajapaksa has no right to claim that he won the war?on his own and that credit must also go to her, the UNP Government and the military.

She recalled that when she was President, the military had secured Jaffna from the hands of the LTTE and under the UNP Government most of the Eastern Province had been liberated.

Kumaratunga said that after Rajapaksa became President parts of the North and East were freed and the LTTE was defeated.

The former President, who recently announced that she will be backing the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) at the Parliamentary election, said that Fonseka had a large role to play when Rajapaksa won the final battle.

However, she noted that Fonseka was dragged into prison and jailed despite leading the military on the ground to defeat the LTTE.

Kumaratunga said that a book she plans to release on her life story will reveal how badly?Rajapaksa treated the country and her after he became President.

She says the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has been ruined by Rajapaksa and efforts must now be taken to first save the country and then the party.?(Colombo Gazette)