President call voters to consider his programme for the next five years and vote

President Ranil Wickremesinghe today said he does not consider the upcoming election a battle against rival candidates, but for voters to decide on the programme presented by him for the next five years and vote   

President Wickremesighe during an interactive session  with newspaper editors and heads of electronic media made the comment responding to questions about the decision to field Namal Rajapaksa as a candidate and  whether he now sees a four-corner contest.

“I am speaking about the future of the country and they (other candidates) are speaking of their future”,  the President said.

He said since taking over as President, he has paved the way to come out of bankruptcy and it was a matter of continuing with the programme to bring relief to the public.

Reacting to a question about claims by Presidential candidates that the IMF agreement would be revised, if they gain power,  the President said that if the benchmarks are changed there is a risk of getting the next tranche from the IMF.

‘Voters will have to decide if they will save the country or destroy the country’, he said.

 The President was questioned whether he would downsize the public sector and he responded by saying it may create a situation like Bangladesh.

President Wickremesinghe in response to a question about members of  Parliament from the SLPP accused of corruption  supporting him, said that he had never given any instructions to stop the investigations or any cases against any member. He added that  allegations need to be proved in a court.

He said that it is up to the voters to decide whether they would be re-elected or not at a Parliamentary election.

He said that he had strengthened anti-corruption laws too and the Proceeds of Crime Bill  will also be presented to the Cabinet next week.