“If I had some deal with the Rajapaksas, I would be with them today”
11 August 2015 06:35 pm
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Danuna Tillakaratne, The former son-in-law of Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka who was on the run for five years due to what he claims was ‘political revenge’ came out of hiding just before the January 8 Presidential Election. He is contesting at the upcoming General Election from the Colombo District under the Democratic Party led by Field Marshall Fonseka and is the organiser for Colombo East. In an interview with Dailymirror, he spoke about a range of issues including his decision to enter politics and his plans for the future.
QYou do not hail from a political family and until now you have not been involved in politics. Why did you decide to enter politics at this juncture?
Even though it may seem as if my political career started with this year’s General Elections, it actually started in 2010 with the Presidential Election when General Sarath Fonseka contested. At the time, I was behind the scene; I was handling his online and social media campaigns including his facebook, twitter, youtube and website.
I was also helping his poster and media campaigns. Even though a lot of people did not know me at the time, I even had my own office at his office premises. I was playing a big role in his campaign and was also coordinating with major politicians in the common front. That was how I started my political career.
As soon as I came into the picture in 2010, there was a big mud-slinging campaign carried out to slander General Fonseka. I was one of the major figures around which this mud-slinging campaign was centred because I was his son-in-law.
There were allegations that I was dealing with arms and selling them to the LTTE. They structured and created a mud-slinging campaign based on me. At the end of the election, I got information that the Rajapaksa regime had plotted a plan to get a statement from me in a way to corner Sarath Fonseka, file a law suit against him and put him in jail.
I was told that if they managed to capture me, they would not release me until they had fulfilled their plan; they said that I could even face death if I did not do what they wanted. The way things were progressing, I did not have an option but to go into hiding.
During the last five years when I was in hiding I had a lot of time to think about why this had happened. I educated myself about Sri Lankan politics and its history, how come all the countries that were trailing behind us had become developed countries now and why we were behind. I saw some of these issues and thought that I might be able to help to make a change in our country’s political culture. In Sri Lanka, politics is not the most reputed job. Ninety per cent of our parliamentarians are not qualified. That is why I decided to try doing something to address these issues. The Democratic Party invited me to join and strengthen them.
QWhat is your vision? What are the ideologies and principles that your policies are based on?
The most important thing is that I want the political culture in this country to be a gentlemanly one. I want to take it beyond the mud-slinging culture that is currently prevalent. I feel it is very vital that politicians should be qualified– they should be educated and should come from a decent familial and business background.
If they are involved in trades such as alcohol and other illegal activities, it is very hard to influence the country in a positive way and take it in the right direction.
The other thing is that as a youth, I lost five years of my life due to political victimization. I think that if this could happen to me, being a Brigadier’s son and an Army General’s son-in-law, it could happen to anyone in Sri Lanka.
I also heard that billions of rupees was spent on me – to capture and sling mud at me. I suppose I can raise my voice and make it heard since I know everything about it. I can talk along these lines so that people will know the truth.
I want people to start thinking who a politician is and what his main job is. I feel that a politician should be a policymaker and try to solve the problems faced by communities. I don’t think that most of the current politicians are fulfilling their role. So I feel that I can make a change.
Q: You are not a part of Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka’s family anymore since you separated from his daughter. Why did you decide to contest from the Democratic Party rather than contesting from the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) led by the United National Party (UNP)?
A lot of people have told me that if I joined the UNP, I would have just walked into the Parliament. But if you look at the policies of the Democratic Party, it is very clear. Our candidates are filtered. As a party, we cover the points of gentlemanly and qualified politics if not one hundred, at least ninety nine per cent.
Q: Are you saying that the UNFGG doesn’t cover these points?
Yes, I feel so. I am trying to stick to my policy of not slinging mud so I am not going to mention any names. But if you look at the UNFGG, who are the main people? There are about five people from the UPFA who joined and some of them joined the UPFA from Sinhalese Buddhist extremist parties. Why did they get elected? How did they become politicians? It was because they brought in extremism. They brought in the Sinhalese Buddhist concept and that is how they got elected. Then they joined the UPFA and then got diverted into the UNP or UNFGG. Then where are their policies? We are saying that we don’t want communal violence and don’t unrest between the religions and races but if you have fanatics, you are leaving room for that to happen. Similarly, I can give examples of some UNFGG candidates’ business backgrounds, lack of qualifications, etc. There are good, qualified people that I would recommend as well but a very few.
If I joined something like that I would have been going against my policies. That is why I felt that the best place for me to start my politics was with a party and a leadership who is clean, straightforward and works according to rules and regulations; hence I chose the Democratic Party. And whatever said and done, I have personal links with the Democratic Party. I know we are totally going against the tide but my idea is not to just get into the Parliament. I believe we need to change the political culture in Sri Lanka and the sooner we do it, we will become a developed country.
Q: Do you think that with Field Marshall Fonseka as the party leader, the Democratic Party will be able to capture the minority votes – especially from the Tamils?
Yes, I think so. If you look at 2010, we had gotten the most number of votes from all the majority Tamil areas in the country. That was because the TNA supported us – that was one of the reasons. They also understood that Sarath Fonseka is a leader who solved a problem without having any personal issues with any race, religion or community. So I feel that they understand that he is a leader who wants to solve a problem, not create one.
Q: Some people are of the view that Field Marshall Fonseka is a dictator and that he will try to run the country like the military. We also saw that some of the ex-members of the DP left the party claiming that he is impossible to work with. What is your view on this?
I think it is a case of those who cannot stay in the party and does not believe in his straightforward leadership, giving excuses. He has to be strict; he cannot just listen to everyone and change the rules and regulations to everyone. I think he sticks to his principles and that is why people see him as a bit of a hard leader. I think we need that if we want to change the political culture – you need a strong leader. The view that he is a dictatorial leader is more of a created side than reality.
Q: What is the goal of the Democratic Party? Is it to make Sarath Fonseka the next Prime Minister or the President?
As a party, we are not interested to make our leader the President or the Prime Minister at the moment. Our main goal should be to have a reputed set of parliamentarians. Secondly, to get more of our party representatives into the Parliament because we believe that our members meet this requirement. That way we can have a voice and highlight some of the issues. So our goal is to get more refined, gentlemanly, qualified people into the parliament. Once we get the Parliament steady, we can move ahead.
Q: There are rumours that you are somewhat of a playboy and a party animal – that you are seen consuming alcohol and patronizing nightclubs. Your philandering ways were also said to be one of the main reasons that your wife separated from you. What is your response?
All those are false. I was born and brought up in Colombo. I attended Royal College and continued my higher studies abroad. I cannot say I am the most traditional person. I have an open mind. I don’t want to lie to everyone saying that I am in the temple everyday. I have a social life. I need to move around with the youth whether it is a party, a religious event, social event or community project. You cannot neglect a certain group of people if you hope to become a politician.
The reason for the split-up with my wife is not that I am a playboy or a party animal. I was in hiding for the last five years so we were not together. We came to a mutual understanding to get separated. None of the relationships have changed and I am still close to the family; I am still behind them, supporting them.
Q: It is quite possible that Mahinda Rajapaksa may come into power again and hold an influential position. Considering everything that had happened, do you consider it as a threat to you?
Definitely. I was chased for five years and if he comes back I don’t think he will change his ways. Everyone warned me about getting myself into risk when I entered politics. It was not just me but my family and friends were targeted, harassed and hassled too. I knew what I was getting myself into. I think I have the strength, wisdom and courage to do that so I might as well come out and fight.
Q: It was at a very strategic time that you came out of hiding. Many people speculated that you had struck a deal with the regime in exchange for your freedom, especially since your cousin Hashan Tillakaratne had declared his support to Mahinda Rajapaksa. So what was the deal?
It may have looked like a deal but there was nothing as such. Every day my family, friends and lawyers analyzed the political situation to see what would be the right time for me to come out of hiding. Before the Presidential elections, my lawyers – who are my main advisers – advice me that it would be the best time for me to come out and get bail because if the Rajapaksa regime tried to capture me at that time, it would have had a negative impact on their campaign. So I had the confidence that I would get bail. So it was a strategic decision.
If I had some deal with the Rajapaksas, I would be with them today, wouldn’t I?
As for Hashan, I think he had declared his support for Mahinda Rajapaksa some time ago, in 2012. My coming out had nothing to do with that.
Q: If you come into power, are you planning on taking any action against those who committed wrongdoings against you and your family?
I am not going to waste my time trying to take revenge. But I do have a few questions for them. Now they took five years of my life and to do that they spent billions of rupees. Some analysts estimated that they would have spent about Rs. six billion just for me. Who is paying for all of this? Who paid the legal fees of the Government? Who paid for my mud campaign? All the police stations were after me so who was paying for their salaries and their time? They followed, monitored and questioned my friends and family. They put international teams to find me including the Interpol. And what about the Courts? Can anyone put a false complaint and waste the time of the judges? This is the money of the Government which is ultimately the money of the Sri Lankan people. Can anyone powerful spend people’s money for their personal agendas? How do they file these cases? Who is responsible? Is there any way to stop it? What is their punishment? I want to raise these questions and see what they have to say.