Dubbing ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka as a 'fool', Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ruled out an early pardon for the General, who is being court-martialed on charges of engaging in politics while in uniform and defence procurement irregularities.
"He is a fool. On November 16 (2009) he was sitting right here (the President's office in Colombo) and I asked him if he was interested in contesting (the presidential election) and he said, No, sir... I haven't made up my mind. Even on the day of his last visit he didn't tell me," Rajapaksa said in an interview to Singapore's Straits Times, which was published on Thursday.
Fonseka, who led the Sri Lankan army to victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam last year, was the joint opposition candidate in the January 26 Presidential polls in which he was defeated by Rajapaksa. "So I advised him. I told him that politics is not the army. In the army, when you have an order, they follow. In politics you give order and they react in a different way... I told him, whatever he might think, I know this game and I am going to win this election. Whoever is my opponent doesn't matter to me," Rajapaksa said.
He made the remarks when asked about his feelings towards Fonseka and whether the former army chief could be accommodated under the planned national reconciliation. Rajapaksa said he could have prevented Fonseka, who is being detained at the naval headquarters in Colombo since his arrest on February 8, from contesting the Presidential polls, by delaying his retirement.
"I could have stopped him (from) contesting, because he couldn't retire until I permitted him to. I could have just sat on his retirement request until after the nomination papers were filed... But I let him contest. I didn't want people to say I was frightened," he said. Claiming that Fonseka was on 'holiday' in China when the war against the LTTE was in its last days, the President ruled out an early pardon for him.
But if I pardon him, what about army discipline? What about the court martials of other officers? What can I do! This is the British law. They gave it to India and us," he said.
"Fonseka himself put thousands of soldiers under court martial. At one time, the figure was 8,500. I shouted at him and I had to release them," Rajapaksa told the paper.
He said Fonseka wanted to increase the size of the army to 450,000 from 200,000 after the war got over as the General treated India as an 'external threat'. "India's standing army is 1.5 million, its paramilitary forces are nearly one million. So what can 450,000 do against 2.5 million? I told him, let me worry about external forces," Rajapaksa said.
He also alleged that Fonseka had "placed cash of 700,000 dollars in a bank after the elections."
Asked about charges that the former army chief was plotting a coup, Rajapaksa said "There was something going on. I cannot discuss all details as inquiries and legal proceedings are on."
"It is up to the police and security forces to frame the charges. It is not for me to get involved. Let them handle it. Whether he is found guilty or not guilty is not my concern. But the procedure must go on. The law must be enforced irrespective of persons," he said.
