L. Jayasooriya

Judging by the assets that SF has declared as given in the front page of the Island on Saturday 19th December he is a pauper compared to even some provincial councillors, never mentioning others. SF has also said that he has no assets other than what he has now made public. His total assets are 6.4 lakhs in his bank account and a 15 perch land at Piliyandala which he has mortgaged to obtain a loan. He has also pledged to declare his assets annually. If that is so, how is he paying one million rupees a month as rent for a house in front of Royal College? I cannot imagine any private house worth that much anywhere especially between Reid Avenue and Thurston road both of which are heavily polluted.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ One interesting point is his declaration of policy is that it now does not contain any mention about the 13th amendment let alone going beyond it. Can anyone trust him on this?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Before the general elections we must seek a policy declaration in public and made in person both by the President and the Opposition leader as to where they stand on the 13th amendment and any form of devolution. MR has made it clear that there are no Sinhalese, no Tamils, no Muslims, no Burghers and no Malays and that they all are equal with equal opportunities. That being the case we expect the President to declare that he would abolish the Provincial Councils and compensate the employees by giving them a lump sum say about three years salary and a pension for life based on the years of service. That will save us a fortune every year. We also expect him to declare that any form of devolution disturbs the equality among citizens and regions and it will eventually lead to Homelands first and then Eelam. We expect him to say that there will be not one iota of devolution anywhere and that there is freedom of movement for anyone to settle down anywhere. If these personal guarantees are not given then Sinhalese Buddhists may abstain from voting. The result could even mean Ranil Wickramasinghe being able to form a government.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As far as India is concerned we should ask them to mind their own business. They should be told that their last vestige of dictating terms to us will be wiped out of this country and the country will be disinfected after that. India knows what happened to their IPKF at a time when we had nothing to defend ourselves and were confined to barracks. If they were to attempt a second invasion both Pakistan and China will make use of that opportunity to redefine their boundaries with India. India will never be the ruler of the Indian Ocean unless it annexes our country but India has better chances of annexing China.