Government tells Opposition:

Prove your charges

The mud slinging campaigns carried out by Opposition parties against President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family on several alleged transactions and dealings are baseless and unfounded, Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said.

Several emails and news articles are going around on alleged deals such as purchase of Apollo Hospital, Mig air craft deal, purchasing of the Australian Embassy land and Swarnavahini and many more, Minister Yapa Abeyawardena said at a media conference yesterday.

For the Mig deal they had a Parliament Select Committee but no one had complained against the deal whatsoever, he said.

He said the Government challenges any political party or individual for a live media debate on any TV channel to prove these dealings and transactions said to have been carried out by President Rajapaksa’s family.

They would give one week’s time for any would be challenger to prepare, he said. The Minister also said UNP and JVP fielded Sarath Fonseka as their candidate to fulfill two tasks namely the abolition of the Executive Presidency and establish democracy and rule of law in the country. But pledges on election platforms and rallies made by Fonseka on pay hikes for Government servants indicate that he (Fonseka) does not understand basic economics or the political culture in the country.

With Fonseka’s huge pay hike pledges, the Treasury will go bankrupt and all development activities will have to be closed down in six months and no development activity will move forward.

The reason being that it will be beyond the means of the Government and it will not be able to increase salaries for any future Government, he said.

He also said that recent surveys have indicated that President Rajapaksa will score a thumping victory at the forthcoming Presidential election.

The UPFA’s election manifesto will be released before January 10. It will pay attention to increase production and productivity in all sectors, he said. Minister Abeyawardena said that in the first four years of President Rajapaksa’s regime they had improved and developed infrastructure facilities in the country. With the implementation of five mega ports and the air port concurrently during the last few years, the country will not need any port and airport for the next hundred years, he said.