Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa has urged the government to hold Provincial Council elections, insisting that only the ballot box, not commissioned surveys, can reveal true public opinion.
Speaking to reporters at the SLPP headquarters on Nelum Mawatha, Rajapaksa said elections were the most reliable test of voter confidence in the President and the government, and questioned whether the administration was prepared to face the electorate.
Rajapaksa emphasized that an election was the only reliable way to test how much support the President and the government genuinely commanded among voters.
He said the surest method of establishing the true level of public approval enjoyed by the government was through the ballot box, whose findings, he claimed, the government itself was reluctant to act upon.
Rajapaksa accused the government of reneging on the promises it had made on assuming office, pointing out that even its own survey data showed that more than half the population was under severe strain from the rising cost of living and food shortages.
He further warned that any attempt to push through constitutional amendments unilaterally, in defiance of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association, the Asian Lawyers’ Association, members of the judiciary in the lower courts, and the public, was destined to fail.
Rajapaksa urged the current leadership to heed the fate of past governments that had disregarded public sentiment in similar fashion.
With regard to national security, he referred to previous bomb attacks on the Kataragama Perahera and the Sri Dalada Maligawa, noting that governments of the time had nonetheless ensured the safety of those events through direct intervention and allowed the festivities to proceed.
He said that if organised criminal elements were allowed to dictate whether religious and cultural processions could continue, it would call into question the very legitimacy of a government, adding that the state bore full responsibility for protecting kavadi and dance performers, elephants, temple officials and devotees alike.
Rajapaksa said his party held no discussions in secret and would engage openly and transparently with any party, including the opposition.
He added that the SLPP remained open to forming alliances with groups that shared its ideology and were guided by national interest rather than personal gain, and that his central task going forward was to rebuild a strong political force by drawing back those who had drifted away from the party. (Newswire)
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