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Monday, 10 August 2015 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Former President
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa standing in the 17 August parliamentary election as the UPFA’s de facto prime ministerial hopeful, acknowledged his Government had made mistakes in the past, but predicted his party would win an outright majority in the poll.
Rajapaksa, who addressed a media conference at the Hilton Residence ballroom yesterday, said UPFA polling and surveys were showing that the former ruling alliance would get at least 117 seats in the new Parliament. “Many of the polls are showing more than 117,” the former President asserted.
He said the people were flocking around the UPFA at this moment. “The country is going backwards, anyone can see that,” Rajapaksa charged.
The former President claimed that since 8 January, the underworld elements had returned to the country and foreign investors had fled.
Asked if there were things he would correct if swept to power again, Rajapaksa said that there were a few things. “We may have made some poor decisions. But we never made any bad political decisions,” he asserted. The former President also denied giving money to the LTTE in 2005. “Only three years after that then I would not have been able to defeat them,” he chuckled.
Rajapaksa added that his Government had done everything possible to find a solution through negotiations. “But we warned them (LTTE) that if they start something, we will finish it,” he asserted.
Asked about President Maithripala Sirisena’s statement that the former President would not be made prime minister even if the UPFA wins the election, Rajapaksa said: “We will see about that on 18 August.”
The former President said he would be willing to work together with President Sirisena if the UPFA won a majority in the poll.
He also laughed off his predecessor Chandrika Kumaratunga’s scathing criticism about his candidacy, saying she had always attacked him.
Rajapaksa was flanked by UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha and several other senior members of the ‘Mahinda camp’ including Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila.
Premajayantha slammed Kumaratunga, saying she had worked towards Ranil Wickremesinghe’s victory in the 2005 presidential election and refused to provide party funds to the Rajapaksa campaign when her prime minister was contesting the presidency.
“She has always attacked us. This is nothing new. It’s a problem that won’t be resolved in this birth,” Premajayantha said.
