Perera asks MR to come up with more intelligent slogan than racism and LTTE

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ajith P. Perera

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ajith P. Perera says it is clear that from the statements being made by Mahinda Rajapaksa, that the former President has amnesia since he has forgotten the past and asked the former leader to come up with a more intelligent slogan than racism to address the people.

The Deputy Minister, in a statement, said that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was using racism as his main slogan for each and every election held after 2005 but the people rejected this strategy on 8 January this year. Now he has forgotten that and is continuing to follow the same theme even during this election campaign, Perera pointed out.

Racism, communalism and religious extremism

The Deputy Minister said the Kurunegala District candidate had resorted to racism, communalism and religious extremism while instilling hatred between the country’s different ethnic communities.

“Any person who has a little knowledge of the political history of Sri Lanka is aware that the political parties in the north include in their election manifestos their commitment for a federal administration or self-rule. It is similar to the statements made by Mahinda Rajapaksa about Sinhala ethnicity,” he said.

Perera said that if the LTTE was eliminated in 2009 why was Rajapaksa talking about the LTTE raising its head again. He said the 30-year-long war was like a beggar’s wound for Rajapaksa.

Perera said the most important fact that Rajapaksa had forgotten was the friendship he had with the LTTE. Rajapaksa had a very friendly relationship with LTTE, the Deputy Minister said.

He spoke about how Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, who was allegedly responsible for killing 600 police officers and the murder of Bhikkus at Aranthalawa, was appointed as a Vice President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party by Rajapaksa.

Perera also said that it was Rajapaksa who directly gave Prabhakaran a grant of Rs. 800 million through RADA, as a result of which Rajapaksa, with Prabhakaran’s blessings, won the presidential election in 2005. If not for this gesture on the part of Prabhakaran, Rajapaksa would have not become the President of this country, Perera said.

Devolving power beyond 13th Amendment

The Minister said that during Rajapaksa’s tenure he promised UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that he would solve the ethnic issue through the 13th Amendment’s power-sharing model. Rajapaksa also promised the UN Secretary General and Indian officials that he would not leave room for an international probe into war crimes. Having made these comments Rajapaksa is now talking about the threat of the country being divided.

“Now he utters nonsense about a separation of the country, thus conveniently forgetting the pledge given to India to devolve power beyond the 13th Amendment and the pledge given to Ban Ki-moon about permitting an international probe on war crimes,” the Deputy Minister said.

“Mahinda Rajapaksa and his racist acolytes should immediately stop agitating the country’s citizens through his narrow political manoeuvres,” Perera said.

The Deputy Minister said Rajapaksa and his clique had forgotten the message given by the people in January and had resorted to repeating the same racist slogan. The Deputy Minister suggested that he should come up with something more intelligent for the people, even at this late stage of the campaign.

“That is the best he could do after sliding down from his position as king to gatekeeper,” Minster Perera said.