SLFP policies ignored - UNP

by E. Weerapperuma

The manifesto launched by UPFA Presidential candidate Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse has ignored Bandaranaike policies and it is no more the SLFP manifesto, but a manifesto of Mahinda, UNP Deputy Secretary-General Tissa Attanayake, MP, said yesterday.

Addressing a media conference at the office of the Opposition Leader he said : "With the launching of the manifesto, of the UPFA Presidential candidate there will be no more SLFP policies or 'Bandaranaike Chinthanaya'. It is from now on Mahinda Rajapakse Chinthanaya. The SLFP policies are being pawned to the demands of the JVP and JHU.

The groups with Mahinda are bent on extreme nationalism and therefore he has betrayed the SLFP and its policies," Attanayake said. He went on to say that the Prime Minister by entering into agreements with both the JVP and JHU, which hold opposing views to each other, has betrayed the policies of his own party.

How can the country place their faith and trust on a person who has become a prisoner of the JVP and JHU, he asked.

He is not free to act the way he wants. He has to dance to the tune of the two parties which hold different views. "We challenge the Prime Minister to bring all the leaders of the parties that pledged support to him on one platform," he added.

"As UNPers we are happy that our struggle to restore the 100-metre buffer zone for the people along the tsunami hit coastal belt has been reduced. We fought for the restoration of the 100-metre buffer zone and the Government finally has decided to relax the restrictions. We are sorry that the Government is playing politics with the plight of the people hit by tsunami, he said.

Mayantha Dissanayake, the second son of slain UNP leader Gamini Dissanayake said that he as a born UNPer would not desert the party and he would work to ensure the victory of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Answering a question from the media, he said, all that was published by the media were false and he had visited Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse to thank him for his support for the Mahaweli Maha Seya.

He said in his view that not only one, but several members in the same family should be given the opportunity to enter politics if they so wish.

Sedu Raja Nadaraja former SLFP organiser for the Batticaloa District said that, he together with his people will work to ensure Ranil Wickremesinghe's victory. "He (Ranil Wickremesinghe) is the most acceptable leader to all communities," he said.