He said that no one asked him to do this and that. It was the President himself who made the political decision and it was done according to his line of thinking,” the Defence Secretary said addressing a meeting organized by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in Homagama.

The Defense Secretary said that after appointing Lalith Weeratunga as the Secretary to the President, the President appointed him as the Secretary of the Defence Ministry. No one asked him to do so and it was his own decision,” the Defence Secretary explained.

He said that then the President made a plan to end the Eelam war and based on that he had discussions with Indian authorities. Following the discussions, he gave ‘peace’ a chance and went for negotiations with the LTTE as the first measure. He resorted to war when all the other options were closed.

The Defence Secretary made these remarks responding to the claims made by the JHU that they were the party who guided the UPFA government in the direction of the final phase of war. The Defence Secretary asserted that no party could claim ownership for the victory of war as it was the brainchild of President Rajapaksa.

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena and Western Provincial Council member Gamini Thilakasiri were also present at the event.(KH)