Sri Lankan government playing politics over crisis: Namal Rajapaksa to WION

It has been more than a week since the deadly attacks in Sri Lanka in which 250 people were killed. The attacks have left a deep scar in the live of the people of Sri Lanka and raised questions on the response of the government.

Sri Lankan leader Namal Rajapaksa spoke to WION's Palki Sharma about the attacks and why he thinks the government has not done enough. Here are the excerpts:

WION: It's been more than a week since the attacks in Sri Lanka. Do you think the country is safe now? Has the government been able to secure Sri Lanka?

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Namal Rajapaksa: The forces are doing their level best. If you look at last eight days, they have been very active and acting very fast on information they get. And public has been very cooperative. We see on television, we hear from security forces that how public shares information. But as far as the government is concerned, we don't have faith in the President and the Prime Minister (looking at the way) they acted - before the incident, during the incident and after the incident.

WION: The US ambassador to Sri Lanka has said they still have information about more attacks possibly in the days ahead. At a time like this, what can you as a leader also do? You have raised your concern, you have said the government needs to come together. But beyond that, what do you want to do?

Namal Rajapaksa: We will work with the civil and military organisations, and also with the community to bring back normalcy in the lives of the people of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan people have to get back to their normal lives. I was meeting my local leaders today (Tuesday) and political organisations in my constituency. People are not moving out of their houses because they are scared as they do not have confidence in the government that it will look after them, that the government can make people safe. So people have to come back to their normal lives. And normalcy has to be brought to the country.

WION: Many would say that at a time when your country is going through this crisis, the fact that you are saying all of this - even your uncle said he will contest for President - and blaming the government, is political opportunism. How do you respond to that?

Namal Rajapaksa: It's not that he announced it, he said he is ready for it. It is upto the party to decide who is going to be the candidate. Candidates are not decided by me, my father or my uncle. It is the party and the people who decide. And this is not the time to talk about who is going to be the candidate. Anyone can say they are ready for elections, but candidacy should be decided when the elections are called.

WION: But blaming the government at a time like this. Don't you think it weakens their morale?

Namal Rajapaksa: There is nothing to weaken in this government and we are not blaming the government. We are telling what the government is saying. It is a government minister who said his father knew beforehand. It is not Namal Rajapksa who is saying this, but the government is saying. When they blame themselves, and when they don't take any sort of action, what else can we do?

WION: Are you going to ask for an early election because the government is in disarray and the country needs a stable, decisive government?

Namal Rajapaksa: See, Parliament should have been dissolved then and there when we dissolved it. If we would have dissolved it at that time and gone for parliamentary election, something like this would have never happened. I am talking about October. Then and there, we should have gone for election. But now, today, tomorrow or for next 15 days is not the time to talk about election. But definitely, if this government has some sort of courtesy, it should resign.