Retired and serving members of armed forces not forgotten - PM

Whenever we happen to be in power, there will always be former members of the armed forces and police holding various positions in the government

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday reiterated that the manner in which the ‘yahapalana’ government betrayed armed forces internationally and “the vicious manner in which they persecuted both retired and serving members of the armed forces have not been forgotten”.

The Prime Minister also said that there will always be retired armed forces and police personnel in government posts whenever they are in power as the ‘Ranaviru’ constituency is now an integral part of the Sangha, Weda, Guru,

Govi,

Kamkaru social line up in the country.

“The Ranaviru constituency is now an integral part of the Sangha, Weda, Guru, Govi, Kamkaru social line up of former times. So whenever we happen to be in power, there will always be former members of the armed forces and police holding various positions in the government,” Mr. Rajapaksa said.

Prime Minister Rajapaksa said this in his message on the 11th anniversary of the Victory against the LTTE, which falls today - May 19th.

He said the front-line role played by the armed forces and police in working with the general public, has undoubtedly been of immense help to the health sector in bringing the spread of Covid-19 under control in the present manner.

“This once again reminds all of us that the armed forces and police are the sentinels of the nation, ensuring the safety of the general public in all crises whether man-made or natural whether the crisis be terrorism, floods or disease.

He said if a retired member of the armed forces is appointed to some position in the government, that is being portrayed by the opposition as ‘militarization’.

“A person who has retired from the armed forces is a civilian and no longer a member of the military.

We must always be mindful of the historic role that the armed forces and police have played in this country in safeguarding the peoples’ sovereignty based on universal franchise by defeating all attempts to destroy the democratic system of government.