Gota vows to defeat opposing conspiracies for Presidency

Those who know they cannot democratically win the upcoming presidential election are attempting to engage in various conspiracies, but will not be able to prevent a Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) victory, the party’s presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa said.

Speaking during the convention of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya in Kurunegala on Wednesday, Mr Rajapaksa claimed that the SLPP was far ahead of its rivals politically. “This government is carrying out acts of political revenge, targeting war heroes and religious leaders. It has also destroyed the country’s economy and development has ceased as a result, with more and more people flocking to us,” he remarked.

Mr Rajapaksa pledged to improve the facilities accorded to armed forces and police, under his presidency. He said the previous government had built many police stations and quarters for police officers, but all this had stopped under the current government.

The occasion also saw the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya, founded by the late Vijaya Kumaratunga, formally extending its support to SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for the upcoming presidential election.

On September 29, Mr Rajapaksa also attended the special convention of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) in Colombo, where the party also declared its support to the SLPP presidential candidate.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Rajapaksa said the country’s sovereignty was currently under threat, owing to the government becoming embroiled in the conflicts waged by world powers for supremacy of the Indian Ocean. “We need an SLPP government to ensure our sovereignty. We can’t be a party to conflicts between world powers. We have always maintained our sovereignty and adopted a policy of non-alignment. However, we are currently moving away from that policy, due to the interference of various powers,” he observed.

Explaining his vision for the country, Mr Rajapaksa said they had a clear vision and a plan to develop the country’s economy that had collapsed. That economic plan was rooted in the people centric policies of the LSSP, he noted. “There’s no point, if our people are living in poverty. We must formulate our economic policies with the aim of alleviating poverty and lifting the living standards of the people.”

He added that the Asian region has now become the centre of the world’s economy. “Asia is currently developing at a rapid rate. A market is developing around countries such as Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. We must make use of this opportunity,” he emphasized.

“Our country lost 30 years due to terrorism. We cannot let this opportunity pass once more. Unfortunately, the current government has not had a proper plan to develop this country during the last four-and-ahalf years,” Mr Rajapaksa further charged.

Stating that the coming decade will be one that is based on knowledge, the SLPP candidate said one needed both short and long term plans to make use of it. “We have such a programme with our government,” he stressed.