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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sri Lanka: The Editorial That was Not Published

LankaNewsWeb has published the editorial written by Mr. Dinesh Weerawansa, editor of the state controlled weekend The Observer to be published in case former President Rajapaksha would have won the election on 8th January. The editorial shows the level of politicization of the state media in Sri Lanka. Mr. Weerawansha has not denied the news story so far and he remains as the offcial editor of The Observer under the new government as well! The editorial that was not published follows:

President Mahinda Rajapaksa taught an unforgettable lesson to Maithripla Sirisena and his gang of Opposition traitors at Wednesday’s Presidential election.

Although the unholy Opposition alliance projected that the election would be a close battle between the President and Sirisena, it eventually turned out to be a one horse race as President Rajapaksa recorded a comfortable victory.

Be it Sri Lanka or any other part of the globe, it is by no means an easy task for a Head of State, or for that matter any other leader at any level, to retain his or her original popularity. It is extremely difficult for a leader to maintain the original popularity he or she commanded at the time of assuming office.

Nevertheless, President Rajapaksa has secured a record third term in office, a feat which no other previous President had achieved before. Never in Sri Lanka’s election history, had its Head of State secured three successive terms.

In contrast, Sirisena cut a sorry figure by failing to secure even the total number of votes polled by ………………………………. at
the …………….. Presidential Election. Taking the JVP vote base into account, which added to his credit this time around, Sarath Fonseka had miserably failed in 2010 to retain over one million votes of the total votes which the UNP and JVP polled at the 2005 polls. More importantly, President Rajapaksa, sans support of the JVP which he had in 2005 and the SLMC, polled over six million votes at the
2010 Presidential election.

It is evident that Sirisena had been under a delusion during his 40-day campaign as the joint Opposition projected a rosy picture to the former minister and the SLFP General Secretary. Going by the number of people which the UNP apparently transported from one rally to another, Sirisena would have perhaps gone by the numbers present at his meetings to vote for him. However, by Friday afternoon, the patriotic and peace-loving people put paid to Sirisena’s ‘fantasy kingdom’, just as they did to Fonseka exactly five years ago.

In re-electing the President for another term in office with a comfortable majority, the masses have earnestly re-endorsed the policies of President Rajapaksa for the third successive time. In doing so, they not only gave a fresh mandate to the President to continue his good work, but also vanquished all local and international elements which danced to the melody of certain countries and INGOs in the West. Using power-hungry Opposition politicians in the South, these forces worked unceasingly for a regime change. This was mainly because President Rajapaksa did not bow down to Western pressures.

    More than Sirisena, it was former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who ate humble pie. Never in the country’s history, had a former Head of State returned to active politics to suffer an agony of this nature. It was Kumaratunga who masterminded the Opposition conspiracy by forcing Sirisena to betray President Rajapaksa. It was nothing but malice which prompted Kumaratunga to give a secret leadership to the unholy Opposition alliance.

The President’s clear-cut foreign policy has always given top priority for the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It does not take into consideration the so-called big names in the West. The Government was determined to eradicate terrorism. Most of the bigwigs in the West who preach to us ad nauseum on countering terrorism did not even utter a word in support of Sri Lanka during its darkest hour.

As the Head of State and the Commander-in-Chief, the President vowed to put a permanent end to terrorism which had plagued the country for over three decades. Due to the unflagging inspiration and sagacious political leadership of President Rajapaksa, the valiant Security Forces demolished Tiger power and cleared the entire island from LTTE terror on May 18, 2009.

The election result was a vote of gratitude by the masses for the leader who saved the nation from peril but also for leading the country towards new economic horizons. Since vanquishing the LTTE nearly six years ago, President Rajapaksa’s far-sighting economic policies had helped country to make a steady economic progress, even doubling the per capita income.

Parents who were reluctant to send their children to school due to LTTE bomb explosions, husbands and wives who avoided travelling in one bus, innocent civilians in villages close to LTTE-held areas and millions of people who suffered untold agony due to Tiger terror turned up in large numbers at polling booths to show their gratitude once again to a leader who sincerely cared for his people, nation and motherland.

There were a number of sinister campaigns, mud-slinging and character assassination of the President and his family members and concocted stories to project large-scale corruption and a well-knit ‘operation’ by Opposition politicians to sully the image of the President.

Bankrupt politicians such as ex-President Kumaratunga, Ranil Wickremesinghe, R. Sambanthan, Mano Ganeshan, Rauf Hakeem, Mangala
Samaraweera, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero and Sarath Fonseka made a desperate bid to stop President Rajapaksa being re-elected.

    The Opposition politicians and their parties, except for the JHU and the JVP, are the same people who, either directly or indirectly, supported the LTTE during the country’s relentless battle against terrorism. They made vociferous statements to support the LTTE and endorse the charges levelled by the West, together, in one voice, they pressurised the Government to halt the humanitarian operations.

It was a foregone conclusion how certain Western countries and INGOs even pumped money to achieve their dream of a regime change in Sri Lanka. Their sole desire was to have a leader who was willing to be a puppet of the West.

They first identified Fonseka as the ideal man for the job and lent their fullest support in 2010. In his pursuit of power, Fonseka even went to the extent of signing a controversial secret pact with Tiger-proxy TNA to woo Tamil votes. Sirisena did likewise at the recent Presidential election. He even went a few steps ahead by signing separate agreements with the UNP, SLMC, TNA, Democratic Party, JHU and several other parties which share contrasting political demands. But Sirisena, in his lust for power, agreed to all demands of these parties, including what the LTTE rump had demanded through the TNA.

However, none of these ‘strategies’ worked and the masses did not fall prey to the Opposition trap. People from across the length and breadth of the island rallied in their numbers to strengthen the hands of the President to give a clear mandate to him again to beat all overwhelming odds as Sirisena ended up as another Fonseka!

By this, they have taught a valuable lesson to the Opposition and its opportunistic politicians who had day-dreams of capturing power at any cost. This was, no doubt, a wakeup call for Sirisena to face the reality and accept the people’s verdict.

Fonseka, at the beginning of their Presidential election campaign, warned Sirisena not to be misled by the Opposition’s campaign and think that the sky is the limit. Fonseka recalled how he too was pampered by the so-called joint Opposition and said all those Opposition political leaders deserted him after his defeat in 2010, making him to wage his own battle for survival.

Similarly, all those who created a political fantasy to Sirisena are gradually dropping him out. That too is understandable as these Opposition political parties must maintain their identity and increase their vote base at the next general election. Sirisena, even without a political party of his own, will have to perform another Fonseka act by forming his own political party. Even if he wants to join the UNP, the party seniors would not welcome him due to the preferential vote battle in their respective districts.

The Opposition must respect the people’s verdict without continuing to conspire with the Western mafia which played all the dirty games before and during the election. As a responsible Opposition, Wickremesinghe and his henchmen must realise that they have again been spurned by the masses who have clearly rejected the separatist agendas of Sambanthan, Ganeshan, Hakeem and Rishard Baddurdeen.

They must, even now, sink petty differences and extend their fullest support to President Rajapaksa to lead Sri Lanka towards greater economic prosperity.

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