UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe talks with Lakshman Seneviratne, MP at yesterday’s propaganda rally held at Viharamaha Devi open air theatre. Our photographer Nihal Chandrakumara also captured UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, MP and Mangala Samaraweera, MP.

by Shamindra Ferdinando
UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, MP and SLFP dissident Mangala Samaraweera, MP yesterday said that an absolute military victory over the LTTE last May had not brought in its wake any tangible change to the long suffering people of Sri Lanka.

Addressing a public gathering at the Viharamaha Devi open air theatre in support of a grand opposition alliance in the making, they said the Rajapaksas had failed to honour their pledge to revive the struggling economy and provide relief to the needy, once the armed forces brought the war to an end.
The Opposition leader said that newly appointed organisers of the alliance would have to play a critical role in their campaign against the brutal Rajapaksa regime. He urged them to spearhead the polls campaign at the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Both Wickremesinghe and Samaraweera did not refer to the approaching presidential election now widely expected to be called ahead of parliamentary polls.
Wickrekesinghe said that the government continued with the defence levy and recently increased the so-called Nation Building tax from 1 per cent to 3, though the war had come to an end. He that the government had urged the people to tighten their belts and stomach difficulties in support of the war effort though the Rajapaksas and their henchmen had been living in style. He accused the government of reducing special payments to the army, whereas the Rajapaksa family continued with their luxurious life style.

He said that funds saved due to the war coming to an end should be spent to provide relief to all and also increase public sector salaries. He said that people could not afford even basic food items. The price of sugar, flour and dhal had sharply gone up again in the recent past, though the ruling family acted as if nothing was wrong with the economy.

He challenged the government to reveal what it had done with funds obtained from foreign sources at high interest rates. He said that the government had been forced to obtain US$ 2.6 billion from the IMF to meet financial commitments caused by previous loans. A smiling Wickremesinghe asked whether funds obtained by Sri Lanka had disappeared while the President was listening to bana at Temple Trees. He said that the likes of junior Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya could not respond to serious allegations levelled against the government in Parliament. Siyambalapitiya was nothing but a yes man, whose job was to please the President.

He said that the Deniyaya police had arrested three journalists of Lanka to prevent revelation of another luxury mansion that was being built for the Rajapaksas. Referring to President’s Houses in several parts of the country and one or two new ones being built or in the pipeline, the UNP leader said that the ordinary people could not even afford to build a hut.

Reiterating the allegation that there was a move to sell some of the gold belonging to the Sri Lankan government, he demanded the government to reveal the amount of gold seized from the LTTE. He said that several ministers and the Governor of the Central Bank, who initially disputed his claim had now stopped talking on the issue. “I want to know why they are silent,” he asked.

Referring to massive waste, corruption and irregularities in the private sector as well as Parliament, Wickremesinghe said that an employee of the House had been detained by the police, alleging he stole three rolls. “See the absurdity of the situation. Here, a man is in police custody for taking three rolls because he was either hungry or wanted to share them with his family, whereas those who squander public money go Scot free,” he said. He also referred to the food waste in the House also highlighted by the Auditor General on several occasions.

He challenged the government to reveal the names of Sri Lankans who had invested in Franklin Templeton Investments. He said that immense pressure had been brought on the media not to report on shady deals. Referring to the abduction and attack on Poddala Jayantha, he said that the government had now taken the job of shaving the beards of its critics. The plight of the press, he said, was very much similar to that of the internally displaced persons, now forcibly held at military-run camps in the north. Wickremesinghe said that the government was scared to face a parliamentary debate over what he called Templeton Investments for obvious reasons. He ridiculed Ranjith Siyambalapitiya for promising a debate after elections for the Southern Provincial Council on October 10.
===========