Maithripala will not step into President’s House ‘after victory’
The Joint Opposition’s Presidential candidate Maithripala Srisena said yesterday that he would win the January 8th Presidential Election but would not step into the President’s House since he was committed to abolishing the Executive Presidency within 100 days.
Addressing a campaign meeting at Hyde Park in Colombo, Srisena, who recently resigned as SLFP General Secretary and Health Minister, said that he was on a mission to rescue the country from the abyss it had fallen into in the post conflict era with chaos and unprecedented lawlessness and corruption griping the country.
“When I am elected President on January 8, I will not go to the President’s House. It is not a place for me because I am seeking a mandate from all Sri Lankans to abolish executive presidency within 100 days of my election and replace it with a parliamentary system of government where the legislature would elect the Prime Minister,” Srisena, who has picked the Swan as his symbol, pledged.
Sirisena noted that among other matters of priority would be the reintroduction of Independent Public, Elections, Police, Judicial Service and Bribery and Corruption Commissions which were abolished by the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.
A Right to Information Act and changes to the electoral system would also be speedily implemented, Srisena observed.
Emphasising that he was not overcome by the greed for power or revenge, the former SLFP General Secretary recalled being warned once by a high ranking Finance Ministry official that he (Srisena) should not be commenting about the high cost of building highways and roads, if he wished to remain in the government.
Srisena predicted that more ruling party members would defect to Opposition ranks in the coming weeks.
Leader of the UNP Ranil Wickremesinghe said that once Srisena was elected President, they would set about restoring the independence of public institutions and also weed out corruption starting from the top.
The extent of corruption in the last nine years was mind-boggling and never witnessesed in the history of this country, he noted adding that it had been one of the main reasons for the drawbacks in the economy and the skyrocketing cost of living.
Democratic party leader and former Army Commander General (Rtd) Sarath Fonseka said that the “Father” was ranked the ninth richest person in Asia while the “Son” 14th. “It is these people who are sermonizing to the common masses who are struggling to find three square meals a day.”
He said January 8 would mark the end of the Rajapaksas who had wreaked havoc in the country driving fear and insecurity in the minds of the people when it should have been the opposite with the end of the war which he had led from the front and not from air conditioned offices.
Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga said that the monthly Food Bill at Temple Trees was around Rs. 25 million with an additional Rs.500,000 spent on fruits.
Corrupt government MPs had been given Rs.250 million each to spend as they wished, while the honest ones had been blacklisted and harassed. The Rajapaksa regime, she said, encouraged corruption so that it could have hold on its members.
“The government has accused us of being traitors and planning to hand over the country to the LTTE within 100 days. The traitors are all in the government and not among us. Karuna Amman, who massacred a large number of innocent civilians, has not only been made a Minister but a Vice President of the SLFP and the LTTE’s former Chief arms procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan is being given VVIP treatment and protection,” Kumaratunga said.
(Courtesy: The Island)
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Knowing that he might not winning this or?
In the pic, looks like rivals Ranil and SF in nice discussion.
All these people are always making people’s life miserable.
They fight on stage argue and give statements and in another place they enjoy together.
But people, they start fighting for a side without knowing all those are in one side all the time.
Same like WWF, they do mock fights. People pay and watch like real.
Agree with Niyamasinhalaya. All these so called leaders are in constant communications.
The charade they play for the photo is sickening. Sajith P, avowed supporter of Sirisena, the lost goat, was seen being affable with Prez MR a few days ago.
They are simply, fraudsters of the highest degree.
Sirisena, the lost goat, is promising social emancipation in 100 days but he doesn’t tell when the 100 days would begin. He is yet to educate us, the masses, on the constitutional process that he will undertake to fulfill his empty promises. There’s only one thing for sure if Sirisena, the bleating goat, wins the elections. That thing is the appointment of Ponseka as the Defence Minister and Mangala, the golden “Samarisi” as the Foreign Minister. And Mangala would take off to the capitals of the World in a Sri Lankan Airways plane attending Mardi Gras when he can find the time.
This Maithree-Pala Cooperative Society is a miserable bunch of losers who are pretending to be the last living patriots.
If Sirisena, the bleating lost goat, reaches the pinnacle, he will not know what to do. He will gather groups of Saffron clad monks in various locations and would go around seeking their blessings because he has nothing better to do.
Ranil wWckremasighe’s sole objective in life is to become a “tough” executive President like his only known boss, J R Jayawaradane. JRJ was one of the most miserable failures in public life. His boss was Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew.
CBK had close to 10 years in the hot seat but her legacy is an empty begging bowl. The only thing of note she did was to grab powerful ministries form RW while he was holed up in a Washington Motel for a week waiting for a 15 minute interview with thew World’s greatest terrorist, George W Bush.
I admire two personalities who I consider to be statesmen in Sri Lanka. One was SWRD Bandaranaike and the other, Dr Colvin R D Silva.
The support for our National Hero, His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa is growing by the minute.
Bandarawela Pradeshiya Sabha Opposition Leader (UNP) Sachchiththanandan Suren Kanna has joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
Kanna who met SLFP National Organiser and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa obtained SLFP membership and pledged to support Presidential Mahinda Rajapaksa at the forthcoming election in January, 2015.
Suren Kanna was elected to the Bandarawela Pradeshiya Sabha at 2011 election and was also the Youth Committee Chairman of the UNP Plantation Union.
Kanna said that he joined the government to support President Rajapaksa’s national development programme and his campaign to build ethnic harmony.
This is a fantastic move by an avowed UNP’er to expose the bankruptcy of the UNP under Tissa Attanayake and Jayasuriya and Mangala Samaraweera and Daya Gamage.
The UNP’s redemption lies in ensuring Ranil Wickremasinghe and Sajith Premadasa at the helm.