The United National Party’s (UNP) national as well as the village level leadership has to bear the responsibility for the recent string of defeats the party had to face during elections, Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku told Adaderana today.

Answering questions posed by Adaderana, the former UNP Education Minister, diplomat and senior party member who represented the Kaduwela electorate for a long period, said that the UNP had to accept that it was defeated at metropolitan, urban as well as village level.

If the party is considering reforms, it should be not only structural but policy-wise as well. In other words, he believes that the entire party structure should undergo reforms, said Dr. Kodituwakku, one of the most senior members of the UNP Working Committee.

Unfortunately, those opposed to the UNP have always spread the opinion that the party is pro West, imperialists and or capitalists and that the UNP never had any feelings towards the country or its people. However, the UNP has never bowed to the West. Even during the tenure of former President J.R. Jayewardene, he mostly favoured the Eastern and Asian block assistance when undertaking development projects in the island, pointed out Dr. Kodituwakku.

But the masses who believe the false image spread about the UNP by those opposing the party, have still failed to accept the truth, claimed Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku.

Any reforms in the party should take into consideration the members’ ability, popularity and the sacrifices made for the party, added 65 year old Dr. Koditiwakku, who was one time Cabinet Minister for Human Resource Development, Education and Cultural Affairs and a former Governor of the North Western Province and Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Japan and the Republic of South Korea, told Adaderana.