Gotabaya Rajapaksa has visited Jaffna and during his visit emphasised that he would support economic development in the north but failed to comment on political demands made by Tamil political parties.

During his rally, he accused Tamil political leaders of exploiting the past for political gain and insisted that Tamils would need to move beyond this trauma. Gotabaya was the Defence Secretary during the final stage of the war and over a military offensive that has been widely criticised for human rights abuses. This includes the shelling of hospitals, the mass execution of Tamil surrenders, and the systematic use of torture and sexual violence. He has repeatedly rejected the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolutions on accountability as well as key Tamil demands cosigned by major Tamil political parties.

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Gotabaya asked the crowd to put faith in his presidential bid, claiming that he was unlike most politicians who have failed to keep their promises. 

“I have kept my promises. I have never walked away from my responsibilities. I did what I said I would do. In my manifesto, I have said what I will do if I am elected. Like I did in the past I will deliver my promises for a prosperous future.”

He also attributed most of the economic growth in the north to the Rajapaksa presidency;

“All these roads were developed during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s time. We were able to provide electricity, restore railway services to lift living standard in the North. Before 2005, this area was underdeveloped, but things changed after Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected.”

He said, that if elected, he would support northern fishing communities by introducing technology and will improve infrastructure and the local economy in the North.

Gotabaya further claimed that Rajapaksa returned 90% of land seized by the military. This claimed has been disputed by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). TNA MP MA Sumanthiran has called said that this claim is not true and that “after ten long years still substantial swaths of land are being held by the Army, Navy and the Air Force”.

In 2015, the President at the time promised that all private land controlled by the military would be returned to its rightful owners but this has not happened. Instead, there is still on-going militarization.

Read more here: Rights groups warn UNHRC of ongoing militarisation of Tamil homeland

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