Ceasefire will be amended, says Mahinda

by L. B. Wijayasiri in Kandy

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse said once elected President, he would get the Ceasefire Agreement with the LTTE amended to protect the safety and dignity of Security Forces, members of political parties opposed to the LTTE in the North and East and ordinary people, so that the Ceasefire Agreement would become something meaningful and fruitful.

Rajapakse speaking at a rally on 'Dinavamu Sri Lanka' in Kandy, said that the Ceasefire Agreement in its present form was more advantageous to the LTTE.

He said it helped the terrorists eliminate security personnel and those of Tamil political parties opposed to the LTTE and civilians who either opposed their fascist activities or did not agree to tow their line.

Rajapakse added that it was strange that Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has started to love the SLFP. "Wickremesinghe has said that he wanted to save the SLFP.

It was during his premiership that President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's hand bag was ransacked by his Cabinet colleagues. They accused her of carrying explosives in the hand bag. Wickremesinghe did not intervene and stop them," the Prime Minister said.

SLFP leaders are aware of from whom the SLFP should be protected, he said.

Rajapakse said the UNP in a desperate attempt to win tried to fix the "communal" tag on his election campaign. "Wickremesinghe has said that he would unite the SLFP, JVP and the JHU and solve the ethnic issue.

But I would like to tell Wickremesinghe that already the parties mentioned by him, other than the UNP have united and was working together. Once I am elected on November 17, I will invite the UNP too to work with my Government and bring about peace," Rajapakse said. Wickremesinghe was giving promises to youth that he would make available job awareness in lakhs. It was under his two and a half year rule that rulings were issued banning the recruitment to public sector jobs.

It was his UNP regime that curtailed pension rights of public servants. The Alliance Government gave jobs to 41,000 graduates at once and several thousands will be getting jobs soon", he said.