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Monday, 18 February 2019 02:11 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa has criticised both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for declaring open projects which commenced during Rajapaksa’s tenure, charging he was taking credit for them.
Speaking at an event held Saturday to declare open a new building at the Weyangoda weekly fair, Rajapaksa said the current Government had not commenced any development project even after the lapse of four years.
He pointed out the Government had failed to continue certain projects that commenced during his tenure and as a result the development of the country had slowed down.
Rajapaksa said that anyone could see the very slow progress in today’s development projects, which if fast-tracked could be used to overcome economic challenges. He also charged the Government says they have done a lot of things, but none of them are visible to the public.
“I am upset because we could have completed the Kandy highway about two years ago. If so the public could have travelled to Kandy more conveniently which could have saved valuable time and money,” he said.
According to Rajapaksa, the Government was afraid of elections which was why the Provincial Council Election had been delayed. “Just like the Local Government Election, United National Party (UNP) will lose all provinces,” he added.
Rajapaksa rejected the remarks made by the Prime Minister in Jaffna Thursday that there was no new Constitution or even a draft that had yet been prepared, but that such proposals were based on the all-party conference which took place during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure.
“According to newspaper reports, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had said that Tamil People need their freedom and their right to live and that is why we are drafting a new constitution. He also said that he brought the same Constitution that I brought.”
Rajapaksa noted that he does not remember bringing in any Constitution of that nature. “However, if I brought something and if it was good then, they should have supported it and resolved the issues pertaining to the Tamil people,” he said.
