JTUA urges public:

Rally round President

The Joint Trade Union Alliance yesterday appealed to the working class to rally round the President and the Government to defeat local and foreign forces who are trying to disrupt the Government’s march towards development.

The Joint Trade Union Alliance which met at the Public Library auditorium, Colombo on December 9, in a statement said President Mahinda Rajapaksa during his recent visit to the Oxford University had pointed out that although LTTE terrorist activities were effectively ended, local and foreign conspiratorial forces which are striving to resurrect LTTE terrorism have now begun to raise their heads again.

The statement added: “The protest demonstrations launched when the President arrived at the Heathrow Airport in London incited by the Tamil diaspora and the cancellation of the speech scheduled to be delivered by the President before the Oxford Union are seen by the Joint Trade Union Alliance as an outcome of this conspiracy of LTTE supporters. “The Sri Lanka political forces which see no possibility of coming into power in the foreseeable future are trying their best by hook or by crook to topple the Government.

The participation of Dr Jayalath Jayawardene MP and Dr Wickremabahu Karunaratne in these Tamil diaspora – incited protests proves that they too are participants in this conspiracy.

“The Joint Trade Union Alliance appeals to the working clan of Sri Lanka to rally round the President and his Government actively, to defeat the nefarious efforts of the local and foreign forces that are hell-bent to disrupt the quick march towards modern development that Sri Lanka is engaged in under the leadership of the President.

“It is very clear that the Tamil diaspora is trying its best to prevent the emergence of a situation where they will have no justification to remain in foreign countries any further enjoying the luxuries of those countries on the pretext of being refugees, forgetting the real interests of innocent people (who are misled to seek a solution through them).”

The Joint Trade Union Alliance appealed to the Sri Lankan Tamil people living in foreign countries who actually value the interests of the Sri Lankan Tamil population and the development of the country, to return to their motherland and support the efforts that are being made to further those ends.”