Ranil blames LTTE for polls loss

19 January 2010 03:28 pm Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 49 Bookmark

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Opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickramasingha, in an interview with the Europe based Tamil television GTV, blamed the LTTE for his loss in the 2005 elections. Wickramasingha also strongly refuted claims that he was behind the Karuna split from the Tigers.

“What happened in the LTTE was an internal issue which I had nothing to do with. It is very, very unfair to put the blame on me. I have always said if you have any evidence give it us,” he said in the interview.

The UNP leader recalled that he was humiliated by the LTTE and called names after losing the 2005 elections with former LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham even calling him a fox.

“The LTTE told Tamils not to vote. I would have been President otherwise. In 2005 there was a mistake (by the LTTE) and now we have to get together and resolve this issue….In 2005 you missed the opportunity,” he told the interviewer.

Wickramasingha noted that after the Mawilaru incident which resulted in an all out war being launched on the LTTE, the then Army Commander and now Presidential Candidate General Sarath Fonsek had to follow orders from the government to eliminate the Tigers within a time frame.

Comments - 49

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:46 AM

Water under the bridge mate, we need your economic mind, Mr CEO to rebuild the country.
However Praba, once openly said Ranil is more Dangerous the Mahind"-Jaya

4 5

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 07:49 AM

100% I Agree with you.......

4 3

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 08:23 AM

Joker! Why don't you go and rest somwhere in no where?

4 7

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 09:16 AM

Good luck Mr RW.This was a good lesson,without a proper democracy you cannot succeed in reaching a particular goal.

2 4

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 09:32 AM

Both MR & RW tryed different methods to beat Tigers. Both methods had its own risk. RW tryed something new so I had hope at that time. MR tryed same old method I didn't belive. But it worked this time. So I think both are good. RW is brainy MR is more practical.

1 6

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 09:45 AM

Ranil is not well aware of 'tiger' motivation still, even after the complete rout of the organization the remnants follow the same formula- they won't trust old foxes they go for new faces- that's why they prefer the generalised candidate knowing he was instrumental in the non-conventional war with a guerilla force which long acquired conventional warfare tactics due to dithering Premadasa, Chandrika and Ranil. Rajapakses were very firm to put down the menace, come what may, that political will was missing with all the predecessors. Regarding his non-involvement in the vertical split in the 'tiger' cadres: the former parliamentarian Ali Zahir Moulana is giving evidences, why he won't reply that?

2 2

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 10:54 AM

Ranil certainly it was the work of LTTE supremo, who did not want you to become the President. The good news was VP got killed and his organisation was wiped out by the same person whom he supported.

3 6

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:11 AM

i think all of you who criticise what Ranil said are being unfair. what he means is that HE never plotted to split the LTTE thru the CFA. He went into the peace talks very sin cerely & genuinely, wanting to bring a solution to the tamil people's problems.But the CFA brought Karuna into contact with the outside world , brought out vices like greed etc which were buried due to the LTTE'S unity when fighting the war. ( Rather . like what has happened in Sri lanka after we won the war ) it is the result of exposure to foreign countries& the vaccuum that is felt when war lords become peace niks etc that split the LTTE but Ranil did not do it purposely.

3 8

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:27 AM

The only good thing that the LTTE ever did!

7 8

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:30 AM

which is a fact in the history of LTTE/Tamils. Loosing the opportunity making Ranil as the president. What ever the case is, SF is not the best alternative to replace MR. Ranil is BEST as far as Tamils concern. And if you want to see a country develpoing then it may be by Ranil.

Now anyway all in a soup, at this conditions there is no future for SL. Soon there is a definte possibility for division between SF, JVP and UNP. Ranil is a honest MAN. He may withraw.

3 7

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:36 AM

Don't talk nonsense! ... Ranil is an absolute loser ... I was a very strong UNP supporter but I changed because there was no choice.

10 12

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:39 AM

This nitwit should not be allowed to talk without an advisor by his side.Especially during election time.Otherwise he will put his foot in his mouth just as he has done it now.

4 4

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:43 AM

I remember, Ravi J once asking me what I thought of Ranil as he was selected by his father as a future successor ... Ravi J and his family was quite close and we used to move quite closely, I was just in my mid 20s then and what I said was "he will not make a good leader" and I've been so right! I was once a very strong UNP supporter but all that changed and most of my family members too changed along with me when we say the nonsensical approach of Ranil Wickremasingha ... he is the biggest mistake and tragedy of the UNP.

5 4

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 07:27 AM

If u won in 2005, sure we will loss for ever.

7 5

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:52 AM

what he said was true as if you see the distruction caused by the war not only material but the human lives of bothside. it was 15000 soldures. basically 30000 parents lost their beloved sons and thousands of children lost their fathers and thousands of wives lost their hisbands. so who is going to fill the vacum created by their lost, definitly not the politicians and their henchmen boasting about patriotism. so as Tsun sue said winning a battle without a war is the real victory and that was the true meaning of the peace pact sign with the ltte. sadly the opportunity was lost due to the short sighted leaders of the bothside especially tamils coz they were dreaming abt all out victory against singhalese which boomaranged and destroy themselves due to the brave leadership of Gen sarath fonseka, so now responsibily of every leader is to guide their followers to unite the country where everyone can live in peace and harmony.

7 9

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 12:03 PM

I am not a MR supporter, but I am glad he did win. However in this election the war is not an issue. Corruption nepotism and no real knowledge by the rulers on how a modern economy should functions are the key issues. There now exists an almost fascist type of thinking, if you do not support the regime, you will not be able to make living and come up in life. Youngsters should take note of this. this regime has an old soviet era mentality.

13 12

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 12:12 PM

Ranil:
"in 2005 there was a mistake (by the LTTE) and now we have to get together and resolve this issue….In 2005 you missed the opportunity"

This means elimination of LTTE was a mistake?
now togather with TNA to reverse this???

6 14

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 12:20 PM

All these people who are sympathizers of Ranil, at one time or other, endorse his belief that had the North and East people voted in 2005 he would have become the President. But there are many others who think it would have increased the majority of the Mahinda's votes over Ranil's

1 3

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 12:48 PM

This was undoubtedly the biggest mistake by VP perhaps even more than killing of Rajv Gandhi.

If LTTE had got Ranil to win the elections JVP could have used the then prevaling charged situation in the South to start JVP - war III. This would have been much more potent than 1000 sucide carders!!!

2 3

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 02:04 PM

This is strange. Mr.Bean upto a few days ago was saying it was the Peace Agreement which caused the rift.

No wonder he is now trying to appease the LTTE vote by saying this. Is this further proof that the SF and UNP combine do have an agreement?

3 5

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 03:10 PM

wrong Srima. OTHERS in the UNP say that the CFA caused the rift in the LTTE. RANIL himself has never said that

0 3

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 06:27 PM

It is the truth! The war with LTTE would have still been won, with the great military leadership and strategies of SF, who freed SL from the LTTE!

3 3

Friday, 22 January 2010 07:40 AM

so true, else we would have had a PIECE instead of PEACE.

0 1

Friday, 22 January 2010 09:48 PM

Ranil is the best person to be President of Sri LANKA!

1 1

Saturday, 23 January 2010 11:00 AM

dont mislead people if facts are unknown to you. you cannt just talk. should proof. no one has yet come up with a document. come on.........mr is the gr8 leader to us. he will win.....

0 1

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 09:56 PM

'Throw the baby out with the bath-water'! Thats how Sri Lankans have been trained to 'think,' under the present regime. So sad & too bad!

29 50

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 04:43 PM

MR too, tried to negotiate with the LTTE, but VP, was over confident - he underestimated both the well experienced SL Army and SF!

52 109

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 05:30 PM

The only good thing that the LTTE ever did!

83 166

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 05:35 PM

Let's forget the past, and rebuild Sri Lanka! We appreciate your sacrifice, on behalf of the country, to bring an end to corruption and bad governance. Now we are praying for a change, on the 26th of this month!

73 105

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 05:51 PM

Thank God, that you did not win. Had you won, your CFA would be still in force, and perhaps the LTTE would have got its Elam too!

90 126

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 06:27 PM

Would be proud to support the "Sly Fox"! We are indebted to you, for your great service.

57 62

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 06:36 PM

Really upset that the LTTE lost the war? How can you vote for Fonseka then?

63 85

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 06:59 PM

LTTE knew that a permanent peace, would motivate the Tamil population to support the government - as Ranil's government had planned mega development projects, for the country, including the North & East. If the LTTE ever lost this support, they knew that they would die a natural death. Therefore, they didn't want Ranil, and chose MR, instead. But, this too, backfired on them!

34 79

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 07:38 PM

The 'tigers,' arbitrarily, denied the rights of the Tamils, to express their opinion at the election. Finally, the 'tigers' got caught in their on the web! The most horrible outcome was that innocent Tamils, who deserved a normal life, suffered immensely! Let the people decide what they want!

17 101

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 08:40 PM

We need Ranil's brains, to rebuild Sri Lanka!

123 88

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 08:46 PM

The LTTE's greatest blunder, was enforcing that election boycott in 2005!

30 100

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 09:50 PM

FOR NOT LISTENING TO RANIL, BOTH PRABA AND THE TAMIL PEOPLE HAD TO PAY A HUGE PRICE! ONLY EDUCATED PEOPLE, CAN RESOLVE A PROBLEM.

40 64

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 04:33 PM

The opportunity denied to him in 2005, to become the President, was a loss to the whole country!

167 121

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 10:05 PM

I am a Tamil: I hate Pirabaharan. I have no doubt Ranil would have taken decisive military action against Pirabaharan, at the appropriate time, without compromising the lives of innocent Tamils in the Vanni. Remember, it was only after Ranil's peace initiatives failed, that the West turned against the LTTE. I can say, categorically, that only with the participation of Ranil, can our motherland be rebuilt.

50 76

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 10:13 PM

'Don't cry over spilt milk'!.

49 42

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 10:29 PM

VP did do, at least, one thing right!

44 56

Tuesday, 19 January 2010 11:32 PM

That was the only good thing done by Prabakaran, for Sri LANKA!

44 71

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 12:17 AM

If that 'Bean' won, you and I would still be living in fear of the 'Tigers'!

89 155

MICHAEL Wednesday, 20 January 2010 02:04 AM

Loss for the whole country?? None are so blind as the ones who can clearly see the reality but chooses to ignore it. It is good that we have SF in the race this time, instead of this shameless looser who doesn't know when to quit nor the views of the masses. Just think, whom would he have to blame if he lost again? The people?

90 52

MICHAEL Wednesday, 20 January 2010 02:13 AM

You mean the brains of a silly guy, who successfully kept the giant UNP out of power for 15 long years and made it a joke in the politics of this land? MR and SF are great achievers, what has RW achieved in politics or in life?

46 68

MICHAEL Wednesday, 20 January 2010 02:22 AM

Yeah, he's still weeping for his past losses. Good thing he's not running this time, else we'd be so bored hearing his shameless complains in all the media. He did nothing effective as the leader of the opposition, to control the regime of MR who he accuses as being corrupt.

32 36

MICHAEL Wednesday, 20 January 2010 02:41 AM

So, you're also accusing the people of SL for not voting for you and for not braving the guns of terrorists to vote for you? We're not "blaming" you for splitting Karuna. Infact, it should be treated as an honour to have done a thing like that, which greatly helped to wipe out the LTTE. If you have truly done it, you too could have shared part of the glory of victory. How sad of you, who does not even know to accept even a credit you've hard earned. This is where you have gone wrong for the past 15 years of your great ability to loose, you never knew the opinion of the masses. That was because you never lived among the common citizens. You surrounded yourself with a few selected from the elite in the city and you were so foolish as to believe their praises even when you did the most dum thing. LEARN OR DEPART, sir, without further posing as a clown in public. No wonder they call you Bean, even though you choose to take it as a great compliment!

48 45

MICHAEL Wednesday, 20 January 2010 02:54 AM

The sad thing is my friend, he himself thinks that what he has done by way of splitting Karuna is a very bad mistake. That's due to his great ability to loose, to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, what a great man. Here too, he's trying to earn the sympathies of a non-existant LTTE and the small minority out of the diaspora who willingly helped the terrorists. In doing so he's willingly leaving out the majority of citizens who had to face the brutality of that outfit for 30 long years. When will he learn and when will the UNP learn to say enough to a leader who has no common sense, leading the party from defeat unto defeat?

38 46

MICHAEL Wednesday, 20 January 2010 03:03 AM

Pointless telling that to a man who thinks himself as a leader, who's brain doesn't have the ability of reasoning. Better to rub our mouths on a stone than telling him. All the good things he's done for the people are wiped out by one word he chooses to utter at a time of a decisive election.

29 34

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