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Main presidential candidates at rallies in A’pura and Matugama
View(s):This election will change the future: President Rajapaksa
I could no longer be in a govt. that has ruined country: Maithripala
UPFA supporters at the rally in Anuradhapura
The two main candidates contesting next month’s presidential election, -incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa and New Democratic Front candidate Maithripala Sirisena- addressed several public rallies this week. Speaking at the UPFA’s inaugural rally held at the Salgado grounds in Anuradhapura on Thursday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the people would not be fooled by those who spread false rumours about party members deserting the UPFA. “The number of people who have gathered here today is evidence of the people’s attitude towards traitors,” he said.
He added the main aim of his next tenure as president would be to instil ‘discipline’ in the country. “This is an election that will change the future. We as a party have a vision. What you (the people) asked of me was to end the war. Didn’t we do that for you? What we promise, we deliver. “Within four years we ended the war and didn’t we develop the country after the war? How much time does it take today to get from Anuradhapura to Colombo? In a few more days the trip will not take more than an hour. A new road is being built.
“Soon we will be providing running water to every single village in Anuradhapura. An allowance of Rs. 3,000 has been allocated to all kidney patients under the budget. Once pipe-borne water is supplied, kidney problems will no longer be an issue. “We listen to what the people have to say. The budget was not drawn inside A/C rooms. It was made with the wishes of the people in mind. The budget is all about giving,” he said. “Remember we brought Mahindodaya and labs to the peripheries.”He also added that certain ‘nonas’ (dames) insult him out of spite. “They are threatening to bring about commissions. So let them bring them on; we have no blood smeared on our hands. We would cut off blood stained hands rather than keep them.”
Maithripala Sirisena addressing a meeting in Polonnaruwa yesterday
“Every country needs discipline and morality. Join hands with us to build a better country,” he said. Maithripala Sirisena, who addressed a rally in Matugama, declared that under Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rule the country experienced the worst instances of presidential powers being misused for the benefit of the president’s family.
He said that since the day he and the others left the governing party two weeks back, a great political transformation has taken place in the country.
“About eleven hours before our leaving the party, a UPFA party leaders’ meeting was held at Temple Trees. There the president asked me if Ranil Wickremesinghe would contest the presidential polls. I merely replied in the affirmative. That is why the president says I left the party after eating ‘hoppers’ with them.
“I left simply because I could no longer stay at the side of a leader who has ruined the country, the government and the resources of the country and of the people. “When we brought Mahinda Rajapaksa to power in 2005 he was a respected and good person. The most pressing issue we had at the time was the war. We hoped the new leadership, together with the dedication of our forces, would ensure an end to the war. Our hopes came true.
“We reinstated him as president in 2010 to express our gratitude, in the hope that the country would come under good governance and good times.”“Some of our past presidents took up residence at President’s House while some didn’t. But none of them paid any undue attention to the other properties which were provided for the president’s use.
“But in recent years the President’s House in Fort has been transformed into a magnificent palace using many millions of rupees, the residencies at Kandy and Anuradhapura too have been similarly rebuilt using the money of the people.”