Don’t destabilise the South

Lokuge to Ranil:

COLOMBO: Minister Gamini Lokuge appealed to Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to put a halt to his malicious campaign to destabilise the South at a time the country is at a crucial point in resolving the decades old ethnic conflict.

“The troops have conquered the entire East and recently in a surprise operation cleared Seelawathura. The only area left to be cleared is the North,” he said.

Minister Lokuge said the Government troops are engaged in a humanitarian mission to free Tamils from the LTTE grip and restore civil administration in those parts.

“The Opposition did not expect the Eastern operation to be successful. Now when things are progressing smoothly the Opposition is trying to disrupt the process by creating chaos in the South,” he alleged.

The Minister charged that the on-going wave of strikes was a creation of the opposition to destabilise the Government.

“We are at a crucial point in defeating the LTTE. Troops have conquered many parts that were under LTTE control,” He appealed to the people to be patient and help the Government at this crucial juncture. He also blamed the Opposition for instigating the on-going GCE advanced level paper marking boycott by the education sector trade unions.

“I have been contacted by hundreds of teachers saying they are being forced to take part in the strike.

Many oppose this strike. There are issues in the education sector, that we admit, but this is not the way to resolve them,” he said adding that this is being orchestrated by a small organised group.