Gota can still win - Thilanga
While admitting that there will be a surge among Muslim and Tamil voters in favour of the New Democratic Front (NDF) Presidential Candidate Sajith Premadasa, SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa could still win as the support among Sinhala Buddhist voters are huge in the South, former Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala said.
Tamil political leaders in the north will not be able to hoodwink Tamil voters this time with the broken promises given to them by the UNF government, he added.
Addressing the weekly news briefing yesterday at the ‘Center of Transformation’, Mr Sumathipala who is also the Colombo District SLFP organiser, said that Sajith will be at a disadvantage as long as Ranil Wickremesinghe remains as Prime Minister and also expected to continue as the PM in the event of Sajith winning the Presidential poll.
Quoting from the SLPP manifesto, Mr Sumathipala said Gotabaya Rajapaksa has proved to the country that is not only a highly experienced soldier but an excellent administrator when he gave a new look to the country’s infrastructure and in particular to the city of Colombo while serving as the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development.
“He cleaned the Beira Lake, refurbished and widened the road network of the country, introduced a solid waste system to Colombo city and constructed jogging tracks and theme parks in the city. It was because of his work that Colombo was placed on top of the list of fastest growing cities in the world in 2015 by an annual travel study by the Mastercard,” he stressed.
Gotabaya got rid of the underworld, apprehended and jailed drug kingpins and maintained law and order to the letter that led to remove the fear among civilians. He proved that he is one of the best state administrators, Mr Sumathipala stressed.
Politicians cannot misappropriate public money without the help of officials. Therefore, all state officials must determine not to engage in misdeeds, corruption and the Gotabaya Rajapaksa rule. He has already declared that maximum possible punishments would be meted out to government officials who dare to commit administrative and financial crimes under a Rajapaksa government, Mr Sumathipala said.