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| Wednesday, 31 March 2004 |
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Politics | |
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| Corrupt politicians should not be let out but sent to jail - Anura Bandaranaike Corrupt parliamentarians of the United National Party (UNP) after the defeat of their party at the April 2 polls may try to get out the country from the Bandaranaike airport. They must know that after the UNP gets out of office there is a Bandaranaike as the President and another Bandaranaike in the country, warned Advisor to the President at an election propaganda meeting at Galagedara on Sunday. Those that are charged for bribery and corruption should not be left out but should be sent to jail, Anura Bandaranaike said. The meeting was held in support of the candidatures of UPFA candidates of the Kandy district. Kandy district UPFA candidate Dr. Sarath Amunugama presided. Files of papers regarding details of bribery against 18 parliamentarians of the UNF government have been already submitted to the Bribery Commission, Anura disclosed. A Presidential Commission will inquire into the allegations and if found guilty they would be sentenced to jail, he said. The UPFA will definitely win the election. The government must refrain from doing wrong. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is there to keep watch on us, he said. Bandaranaike said, "Peace is not the only problem of the people. There are several other problems faced by the people. Unemployment, cost of living, fertiliser subsidy for the farmers are some of them. A bag of fertilizer has gone up from Rs. 375 to Rs. 975. At some places it costs Rs. 1,050. When the UPFA assume office fertilizer will be reduced to the former price of Rs. 375. After the elections UPFA supporters should refrain from harassing the UNP. Everybody has the freedom to do politics. However, I do not believe in the saying "when you receive a slap on the right cheek you turn the left check also." He further said that the UPFA was formed after lengthy talks which Dr. Amunugama too contributed largely with the ambition of serving the country. The masses have confidence in the Alliance. The masses have already decided to root out the UNP. The UNP will face a severe defeat in the coastal area of the South. Up to Moratuwa from the deep south the UNP will not be returned. For the UPFA it does not look my satisfactory in the Nuwara Eliya and Badulla districts. The rest of the country, is with UPFA, he said. "The UNP will definitely fall a setback in the Kandy district reducing their number to five. The UPFA will get seven seats. Bandaranaike recalled the S. B. Dissanayake had said that after the defeat of UPFA President Kumaratunga would run amok in Colombo with her hair in disarray. S. B. Dissanayake has said since he was the son of a farmer he could even go about wearing a loin cloth (amuda). But I must worn SB that he should not go to Colombo wearing a loin cloth, because Susanthika is there to cut the string of the amuda. S. B. Dissanayake should not forget that there is a case against him for contempt of court," he said. "The Ranil Wickremesinghe government can be compared to Ali Baba and the forty thieves. Many are rogues," he said. President Kumaratunga is using the rights vested in her by J. R. Jayewardene Constitution. She cannot be blamed, he said. Under the Constitution, JR had categorically said that he could do anything other than turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man. However, Chandrika had been able to make a man a woman, he said in lighter vein. As regards the Bhikkhus taking to politics, Bandaranaike said he could only being an example from J. R. Jayewardene. A group of highly placed members of the Sangha including some Mahanayake Theras went in deputation to JR to protest against the Sri Lanka-India MoU. JR asked the Sangha whether they had finished with what they had to say. When the Sangha informed that was all they had to say, JR told the Sangha, "You look after the sasana. I will do what is expected of me as a politician. President Kumaratunga has already given the assurance that as soon as the UPFA government was formed the unemployed including graduates would be found jobs, Bandaranaike said, adding that the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration failed to find a signal job during the last two years he was in office. Dr. Sarath Amunugama claimed a landslide victory for the UPFA. The UPFA government will usher in a new era to the suffering masses of Sri Lanka, he said. The manifesto of the Alliance clearly states the programme of work that will be carried out once the UPFA is elected, Dr. Amunugama said. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Sarath Ekanayake, Wilson Kuruppu, Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, President's Counsel Wijaya Wickremaratne and several others addressed the meeting. |
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