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For unity and prosperity, vote for me, says UNP leader
From Nalaka Nonis in Kandy
If separatism needs to be defeated, the country united with permanent peace and poverty eradicated, vote for me, said UNP presidential hopeful Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing his first public rally in Kandy yesterday after handing over nominations on Friday.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said the pacts his main rival Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse had signed with the JVP and the JHU did not augur well for the country as they would pave the way for the division of the country.

“I appeal to the people who wish to see permanent peace in Sri Lanka to elect me as the President on November 17 to defeat all forms of divisions in this country, be it on the basis of race, religion or regionalism,” he said, adding that a Rajapakse victory would lead this country to war and promote separatism.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said 23 of the 24 demands in the two pacts Mr. Rajapakse had signed with the JVP and the JHU had no mention about the problems faced by the people. He said one of his main aims was to free people from hunger and strengthen the economy.

He said it was only the people who “want to return to war, pave the way for the division of the country, perpetuate poverty and disband the army which safeguards the country’s integrity” would vote for Mr. Rajapakse.

He told the large crowd gathered in the Kandy town that he would wage a war against unemployment and called on the people to vote for him if they wanted to see peace established, good governance practised and corruption eliminated.

At the Kandy meeting, former Diyawadana Nilame Niranjan Wijeratne officially obtained UNP membership from Mr. Wickremesinghe. Several former JVP members also formally joined the UNP at the rally.

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