( The Rajapaksa public meeting, 17 March 2016)
Mar 17, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa today challenging the new unity government to jail his entire family vowed that he will not stop his political journey to win the country back.
Addressing a massive public rally held by the joint opposition, the group of parliamentarians loyal to the former president, at Hyde Park in Colombo Thursday, the Kurunegala District MP said the government of Maithripala Sirisena was carrying out a personal vendetta against him and his family.
He slammed the government for remanding his second son Yoshitha for 46 days and said that now the government is aiming to jail his first son MP Namal Rajapaksa.
“They can jail my entire family, even myself but if they think they can force me out of politics they are delusional,” he said.
Criticizing the unity government, the former president said when he took over the country in 2005 he was facing several major challenges – food crisis, tsunami crisis, the terrorist war and an oil crisis. But he managed to make the country self-sufficient in rice and win the war crushing terrorism, without depending on foreign countries and slashing relief to the people.
Responding to the allegation that he made the country heavily indebted, Rajapaksa said this government within a year has obtained a massive amount of loans but hasn’t done anything yet to show for it.
The former President asked the new government to hand the country back to him if they cannot govern the country.
