A senior JVP leader revisits a controversial political alliance, insisting there was no hypocrisy in backing Mahinda Rajapaksa, crediting him with decisive leadership to end the war while rejecting claims of betrayal or hidden corruption at the time.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna entered into a political agreement with Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2004 to defeat what it saw as a dangerous plan by Ranil Wickremesinghe to betray and sell the country, according to Deputy Minister of Education Mahinda Jayasinghe.
Speaking during a televised political discussion, Jayasinghe said criticism of the JVP’s past alliance ignores the political context of the time. He said the party aligned with Mahinda Rajapaksa to counter moves that threatened national sovereignty.
“They both talked about our alliance with Mahinda Rajapaksa. Why did we form an alliance with Mahinda? We formed an alliance with Mahinda when their leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe – we called him Don Juan Wickremesinghe back then – made an agreement with the LTTE and tried to sell one-third of the land and two-thirds of the sea to the LTTE, when he tried to betray the country, and on the other hand, when he tried to bring Sri Lanka back to Sri Lanka and sell the country, we formed an agreement with Mahinda back then to oppose that betrayal and selling of the country.”
Responding to a direct question on whether Mahinda Rajapaksa worked to save the country, Jayasinghe was unequivocal.
“Yes, right. We still don’t rule it out today. Mahinda Rajapaksa provided that political leadership to end the war. We didn’t say it didn’t exist anywhere. We are not that hypocritical. That is why we supported Mahinda back then. That was the 2005 presidential election. At that time, there were no such issues about the tsunami fund.”
When asked about the timing of allegations linked to tsunami funds, Jayasinghe clarified the chronology.
“The tsunami occurred in late December 2004. The presidential election was held in 2005. At that time, there was no evidence that Mahinda had stolen from the tsunami fund.”
He said judgments must be made based on facts available at the time, not on later political narratives. Jayasinghe made these remarks during a political discussion broadcast on Derana television.
