Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaska told an election rally last week that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) “will not be allowed to achieve through the election what the LTTE and its leader Prabhakaran failed to achieve with a gun,” as he continued his campaign of speaking out against devolving powers to the Tamil North-East.
Rajapaksa claims that his SLPP is going to win the general election and has promised that the government will stand against uprisings and political positions that could “divide the country.”
“We defeated the LTTE's attempt to build a separate state in the North and East” he told the crowd. “However, in the name of democracy, the Tamil National Alliance is trying to gain what the Eelam community could not get at the time. We will not let this happen.”
“Therefore, there is no possibility at all to divide the country after the election and no one should have any doubts about this,” he said in a recent speech.
At other rallies throughout the week, Rajapaksa has hit out at his political opponents in the Sinhala south, accusing both the UNP and SJB of collaborating with the TNA or working against the interests of the Sri Lankan state.
“The similarities between the policies of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya and the policies of the Tamil National Alliance are noticeable,” he told another rally this week. “Sajith Premadasa was instrumental in splitting the UNP and he will not think twice about dividing our country.”
Speaking at yet another location, Rajapaksa went on to claim that “the UNP government defended the NGOs instead of our war heroes!”
Recently, Rajapaksa was on record criticizing the TNA and Tamil journalists for not addressing the “real issues endured by the people of the North.”
Tamil parties campaigning across the North-East have pledged to push for devolution of powers. However, the Rajapaksa regime, which oversaw the slaughter of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians, remains staunchly opposed and is looking to obtain a two-thirds majority at next week’s parliamentary polls.
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