UNP supporters joining UPFA, good omen

A batch of 500 UNP supporters from Palindanuwara in Agalawatte led by Dhammika Ranasinghe, met Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe recently and pledged their support to the UPFA at the forthcoming Local Government elections.

Minister Samarasinghe, welcoming them, said they would help the UPFA to register a convincing victory at the forthcoming Palindanuwara Pradeshiya Sabha Elections. He said the gesture shown by youth leaders such as Dhammika Ranasinghe by joining the UPFA was a good omen for the future.

Minister Samarasinghe said, ‘Dhammika Ranasinghe and his group had set a fine example by expressing their solidarity with their electoral organizer thus expressing their confidence in President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had ended a 30-year war in two and a half years, and created peace and political, economic and social stability in the country. He said the resettlement scheme undertaken by the Government on the directives of the President, in double quick time had come in for international praise.

The Government had also succeeded in attaining an 8 percent economic growth for the country in 2010. It was hoped to increase this to 8.8 percent next year. The Minister said natural disasters had become a world phenomenon today and at such times, Governments found it difficult to contain the cost of living. However, we would be able to overcome this situation soon as the Government had taken steps to strengthen the rural economy.