Lanka now land of thugs charges Mangala

Wednesday, 23 April 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) charged yesterday that Sri Lanka is now known the world over as a land of thugs as thugs are seen operating with government backing, particularly in the south. UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera told a press conference yesterday that the recent attack on a group of UNP MPs in Hambantota, a stronghold of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was clear evidence that thugs were operating with a free hand.

“The attack on the UNP MPs happened in a District where the Speaker of Parliament Chamal Rajapaksa was the party organiser for a long time and also a stronghold of Namal Rajapaksa,” he said. Samaraweera said that the whole nation was now able to see for themselves the true face of the thug culture in Sri Lanka. He said that during the war the LTTE held civilians and abused them under LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran’s thug culture and today while that culture is no more, in the south a “Rajapaksa thug culture” is in full force. “The world now sees Sri Lanka as thugistan or thugs land,” the UNP MP, a onetime Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, said. He also said that the police in Sri Lanka, which was once rated as the best of the world, is now being ruled by the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government. The MP said that while the police had recorded statements from UNP MPs over the Hambantota incident, statements were yet to be recorded from the men who carried out the attack owing to pressure from top officials. (Colombo Gazette)

Mangala urges removal of MR as C’wealth Chair

United National Party (UNP) MP Mangala Samaraweera yesterday called for the removal of President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Chair of the Commonwealth as attack on UNP MPs at Hambantota was further evidence of the violation of the Commonwealth Charter. He urged Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma to remove President Mahinda Rajapaksa from the post of Commonwealth Chairman. “Mahinda Rajapaksa is not Gaddafi. He is the Chairman of the Commonwealth and therefore he is bound to uphold the Commonwealth Charter. However, what happened in his electorate is evident that he has violated the Commonwealth Charter. Therefore I urge the Secretary General to call for a meeting of the Ministers and expel Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Chairman after considering the violations of the Charter,” Samaraweera said.