Roar from Rajarata!

Friday, 12 December 2014 03:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Mahinda tells massive first rally in Anuradhapura only he can change Constitution, asks for mandate
Says he has kept promises on war victory and development
Vows that no soldier will be tried for war crimes
Assures Govt. would take Opposition member for every

UPFA defector President Mahinda Rajapaksa officially kicked off his election campaign in the historic city of Anuradhapura yesterday, pledging to bring constitutional reform and continue a mega post-war development drive. Fresh from a religious pilgrimage to Thirupathy in Southern India, President Rajapaksa came out all guns blazing at his maiden rally, his speech buoyed by the massive crowds at the event. “Only I can change the Constitution,” a fiery President told huge crowds at his first rally. “Give me the mandate.” Constitutional reform has been the cornerstone of the common opposition platform that is pledging to scrap the executive presidential system within 100 days of Maithripala Sirisena’s victory. But President Rajapaks

a insisted that the 8 January poll was a presidential election and not a referendum for constitutional change. Candidate Rajapaksa said that he had kept his promises in a two-year term. “I promised to finish the war in 2005, didn’t I do it? I promised development in 2010, didn’t I do it?” he asked thousands of supporters at the Anuradhapura public grounds. He vowed that the Government would take Opposition members for every UPFA member who defects. The President said it was not difficult to convince members of the UNP to cross over to the Government. “If we want, we can even get UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to cross over,” the President quipped. “We told them, every time you take one, we will take one,” the President said, after losing a total of 13 members of Parliament from his ruling party since he declared elections on 20 November. On nominations day, President Rajapaksa struck back, poaching the UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake and the Democratic Party’s Jayantha Ketagoda. The incumbent vowed that he would not permit a single member of the Armed Forces to be tried for war crimes in The Hague. “The UN Human Rights Council is asking me to provide a list of the rankings in the military, in other words they want to know who the commander-in-chief is,” the President charged. “The Government is building the Sandahiru Seya in Anuradhapura, a monumental Stupa as an appreciation to the sacrifices of the armed forces,” President Rajapaksa said. “Our soldiers did not murder civilians,” the President charged. The President also stated that during his second term in office a large number of development projects, including the construction of expressways and power plants, had been implemented. He added that the Northern Expressway, which will be completed within next two years, will pave the way for people to travel to Colombo from Anuradhapura within two hours. Furthermore, the President promised to supply pipe-borne water to all homes in the Anuradhapura District. “My next goal is to provide every house in Anuradhapura with clean drinking water,” the President said, adding that percentage of households receiving safe drinking water in Anuradhapura had increased to 93.1% in 2013 from 85.3% in 2007. Speaking of the kidney disease prevalent in the region, the President said he would take every measure to eradicate the disease.