Mahinda Confident of Establishing His Government in 2020

Taking part in the Joint Opposition May Day rally in Galle yesterday, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said , that the Local Government elections  defeat faced by them had weakened the coalition parties irreparably. He slammed both the UNP and the SLFP, asserting that the Joint Opposition would establish a Government in 2020.

He further said, that Sirisena was forced to hold his rally in Batticaloa because he has no support anywhere else in the country charging that the SLFP had gone to the East Coast to garner the support and numbers of the minority communities to fill its May Day rally.In addition, the former President said that President Maithripala Sirisena was compelled to say that he would not resign in 2020.

“Our victory at the recent polls has upset what is left of the SLFP.

The President had to make a statement that he would continue past 2020 to ensure that whoever is remaining the SLFP won’t abandon him,” Rajapaksa said.

Further, he claimed that the UNP was losing support by the day. “This time the UNP had their rally at the Sugathadasa stadium, which can hold only around 5000 people. This is because they know they don’t have the support to fill a ground for their rally. We heard that supporters left halfway through, shouting at the Prime Minister.”

Rajapaksa then said that UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was only damaging the party further by remaining as its leader. “Ranil doesn’t know how to gain votes. He can only lose votes. He may have won the General Election but in reality it was a huge loss for the UNP. Soon the party won’t have any supporters.”

He went on to say that the incumbent administration had failed to govern the country.

“They wouldn’t be able to govern a Grama Nildhari, let alone an entire country,” Rajapaksa said, while affirming that the Joint Opposition would bear the responsibility of serving the people once they establish a Government in 2020, he concluded