REFUGEE

In the absence of any ministers excluding Mahindananda Aluthgamage to support the Rajapakse Brothers’ mudslinging campaign against General Sarath Fonseka, Secretary of Defense Gotabhaya Rajapakse has asked the National Coordinator of the President’s election campaign and his brother Basil Rajapakse to assign the majority of mudslinging work to the Army Commander.

Acting spontaneously on the demand of Basil Rajapakse, the Commander has established a secret unit at the Army Headquarters on the 17th December itself. The unit established yesterday has commenced photocopying a large number of copies of a document defaming the General, involving a woman. The unit is planning to send the document by mail all over the country

Army Commander Lt. General Jagath Jayasuriya has organized a series of meetings with soldiers who participated in the Wanni operation in a bid to pledge his support for President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s campaign for the next Presidential election. The soldiers have started to call these meetings the “Wanni election campaign.”

A senior Army officer told Lanka News Web that it was disgraceful that the Army Commander after claiming it was unsuitable for military personnel to engage in politics has now organized a series of political meetings. He said the actions of the Army Commander have brought disgrace to the post as no other head of the Army had acted in such a manner.

He observed that the sacrifices and the dedication of all the soldiers have been undermined by the Army Commander’s actions to give all the credit of the military victory to the President and the Defence Secretary. The officer added that the speeches made in praise of the President and the Defence Secretary by the Army Commander were only second to the ones delivered by the likes of Mervyn Silva.

The Army Commander after claiming he is in charge of the only post of command in the Army reportedly criticizes General Fonseka in his speeches while praising the President and the Defence Secretary for the military victory against the LTTE.

It is learnt that the Army Commander currently holds three meetings per week and has planned 100 such meetings before the Presidential election.