PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA SAYS BEFORE
THE LIFE OF HIS REGIME IS OVER IT WOULD END THE WAR WITH THE LTTE INSURGENCY
By Walter Jayawardhana
Addressing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s annual sessions President
Mahinda Rajapaksa said that his regime would end the war before the
life of its ruling period is over and it has not only taken back the
Eastern Province which was under the terrorists but today it has taken
over Silavatura an important Tamil Tiger military garrison which has
been run under the insurgent group since 1995.
“ We will end this terrible war before our ruling period is over
and not only from the Eastern Province but we have evicted the Tamil
Tigers from the Western Coast’s Silavatura today”, said President
to thousands of cheering delegates converged at the Bandaranaike Memorial
International Conference Hall in Colombo, referring to the latest military
victory of the country’s security forces over one of the main sea
port garrisons from the insurgent group that was a key receiving stations
for their smuggled weapons .
In an obvious reference to Mangala Samaraweera, his former Minister
of Foreign Affairs who is leading a two man parliamentarian breakaway
group which has joined hands with the opposition United National Party
(UNP) sector led by Ranil Wickramesinghe the President said all throughout
history all those who have left the SLFP including Mangala’s late
father Mahanama Samaraweeera have become political refugees without
no future whatsoever.
Calling the ruling SLFP a political party which has understood the
heart beat of the nation he said since the social revolution the party
carried through in the country in 1956 the aspirations of the common
man of Sri Lanka molded the policies of the party and the party is no
heritage of the Bandaranaikes or Rajapaksa’s but of the people
in an obvious reference to Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who is
rumored to be supporting Samaraaweera’s alliance with the UNP.
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga , was a notable absentee at the
conference despite was an invitee to take part in the convention. Minister
Jeyaraj Fernandopulle said an invitation was specially delivered to
her by a special messenger and one of her security officers has signed
for the receipt of the invitation. Minister Fernadopulle said although
she was not present he wished her “good wishes are still for the
party,” which she led for some time.
President Rajapaksa continuing his address said the membership of the
SLFP would not allow anybody including him to betray the widely accepted
policies of the party that reflected the aspirations of the common man
once again in an obvious reference to the new right wing alliances with
the UNP mooted openly by the breakaway faction of Samaraweera and Chandrika
Kumaratunga who has still not declared her policies openly but has secretly
campaigned against party leadership. Samaraweera and Chandrika are preaching
an obvious pro-Western rightwing deviation for the nationalist and centrist
party and are moving closely with the very UNP against which the SLFP
was formed.
He said SLFP was a great tree and if somebody thought that they could
get on to the tree by hanging on to some branches they were sadly mistaken,
in another obvious warning that they would not be able to capture power
of the party.
He said in the past the SLFP party leader S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was
assassinated, a faction led by the late C.P.de Silva left the party,
and a faction led by Mahanama Samaraweera defeated the party government
in the parliament but still the party survived.
J.R. P. Suriyapperuma, a guest speaker at the conference said we are
as a nation is going through a revolutionized new phase . “There
was a time when the Maha Sangha was administering Panchaseela the people
in the audience were each clasping their two hands and only listening
without muttering a single word. But today from the President up to
the small child in the last row is heard repeating loudly the administering.
Today everybody with erect bodies at attention is saluting the national
flag . From the President up to the smallest child in the audience is
singing the national anthem loudly with pride. Mr. President , today
you are presiding over a revolutionized nation!”
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