Remanded JVP MP seeks no position

by Norman Palihawadana
The Janatha Vimukti Peramuna is a political party that totally depends on the assistance of the public and it represents the interests of the people, JVP Trincomalee District parliamentarian Jayantha Wijesekara said at the Colombo Magazine Remand prison on Tuesday.Wijesekara has been remanded on an allegation regarding his involvement in the robbery of two vehicles of JVP parliamentarians from the members’ garage of the Parliamentary Complex, Kotte last week.
Asked whether the JVP has been weakened, Wijesekara said the party was not weak but to outsiders it may appear like that. "Party members are aware that we are strong."
Asked whether the party’s senior officials visited him at the remand prisons, he said JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe and General Secretary Tilwin Silva had come and his family members also had visited him.
Asked whether he expected the party to elevate him in position, he said "We don’t seek positions in the party but work for the public."
He blamed certain police officers for his arrest but said prisons officials were good and that he did not feel any difference being in the remand prison. The food and other services in the remand prisons were satisfactory, he said.
Asked whether with the present problems in the party he foresaw a change in the leadership, he said "We don’t make public comments about the party’s internal matters as they are purely matters for the party’s officials and members."