(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - In an exclusive interview with the Asian Tribune, SLMC National Organiser, Shafeek Rajabdeen said that the announcement would be made by Party Leader Rauff Hakeem during Parliamentary session next Tuesday (November 16).
“This move was discussed at length during our recent High Command meeting. All eight MPs as well as other members of the High Command agreed that we will go down in history as traitors, if we do not partner with the government,”
Rajabdeen added that the Muslims Congress further decided not to go in for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UPFA, but proceed ahead purely based on trust.
“President Mahinda Rajapaksa had a one to one discussion with our party hierarchy. We agreed that there will be no MoU on what they should give and what we should get. It’s based on purely trust. We hope that the government will take us into confidence. This is not a raw deal,”
He added President Rajapaksa expressed his government’s appreciation that SLMC was joining the UPFA.
“Until now, the biggest headache for the government was that that there were no minority party stakeholders within the ruling coalition. But now President Rajapaksa’s government can portray its bigger-heartedness to the international community and the entire world. So with us joining the government, the UPFA itself has become a very formidable force now,”
But while in the government SLMC would still continue to clamour for the interests and the rights of the Muslim community, he added.
“We can’t use our community as pawns. We must deliver the goods to our people now,” said Rajabdeen in a firm tone.
“Sri Lanka has now heralded in an era of development. We too want to be stakeholders of that development story.”
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