Former President and MP Mahinda Rajapaksa was addressing the mammoth May Day Rally at Gall Face said, that the country at the moment needs to replace the current Government which misleads the citizenry. It is only the Joint Opposition (JO) that can rescue both the country and the general public.
He further said, that the current government has done nothing that benefits the country since taking the office. Instead of protecting the people and the national assets, the government only ‘blabbers’ about the debts taken by Rajapaksa.
Day by day, the government sells national assets to foreigners without even thinking about unborn generations. They do not give any importance to the national security. That is why they plan to sell the Trincomalee oil tank farm and the Colombo Harbor which was renovated during my time with a far sighted vision,
He severely criticized the SLFP leadership. Even though the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had a two thirds majority in parliament in 2015, the SLFP leaders only used that power, not to make the party stronger, but to keep the UNP Government in power.
Moreover, he said that by removing the most popular individuals in the SLFP from their electoral organizer positions, the party has been in a divided state.
“The government is also trying to sell important institutions like state banks. Without stopping by that they even try to damage the sovereignty of the country. They want to drag our war heroes and the politicians who gave directives to the war to the international war crimes tribunal.
He said that the JO rose to the challenge of the government. The government told them to fill the Gall Face grounds with supporters. They proved that the real voice of the people is still with them. So now the government should take up the challenge of the JO, he asserted.
Our challenge is this. If this ‘naïve’ government has a backbone, they should immediately call for the Local Government elections. Therefore, he would like to declare the JO May Day Rally as symbol of strengthening the democracy of the country. Not only that, it also signals the end of this government which belongs to ‘thieves.’ It was him who gave the leadership to end the war and now he is ready to give his leadership again to remove the current government and protect the people’s rights, Rajapaksa concluded.
