MR succeeded in restoring democracy in N/E: Gota

Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said it was former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who had succeeded in restoring democracy in the North and East, something that the Tamils in the North had been deprived of by terrorists. He said this had in turn created in them a sense of self belief and paved the way for reconciliation to take place in the country.

Embodying the word “Unitary State” alone in the constitution would not serve any purpose. The country should be a unitary state in all respects.

Addressing a meeting organised by the Eliya Organisation at the Golden Mango Reception Hall in Anuradhapura to create public awareness on the crisis created by the proposed constitutional amendment, he said the government of his brother, the former President, had saved 300,000 Tamil people from the terror that was unleashed on them by the LTTE and added that the Rajapaksa regime had implemented a series of programmes to rehabilitate 12,000 terrorists and integrate them into society.

“Our group ‘Eliya’ has been labelled as a movement spreading communalism by rival politicians. However its endeavour is to prevent the impending danger of constitutional amendments that would lead to a division in the country, a move that was once attempted by an armed struggle and failed. Embodying the word “Unitary State” alone in the constitution would not serve any purpose. The country should be a unitary state in all respects. The government under President Mahinda Rajapaksa brought about peace and resettled 300,000 displaced people in a short time, restored railways and constructed highways and roads. We brought about reconciliation not through devolution of power but through restoring the rights of the Tamil community that had been deprived to them by terrorists. However our Tamil politicians have undermined that endeavour,“the former Defence Secretary said.