Prez in no hurry to hold elections: Gammanpila

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is in no hurry to hold the general election and the claims made by the Opposition are false, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya Leader Udaya Gammanpila said yesterday.  

“This is a baseless allegation. The first COVID-19 patient was diagnosed in Sri Lanka on January 26. She was discharged from the hospital on February 19 after full recovery. When the President dissolved Parliament on March 2, there was no record of any patients being detected for 35 days from January 26 to March 2 and that was why he had dissolved Parliament and elect one that would support his programme,” he said. “The second patient was detected on March 11, nine days after Parliament was dissolved.”  Mr. Gammanpila said the election was fixed as June 20 by the Election Commission and not by the President.   

“We are now in power. We have our President, Prime Minister and ministers. If the election is held, we will definitely win. Hence, we will be in power with or without elections. In such a scenario, why should we rush to hold elections in the middle of an epidemic,” he said.

The UNP should be blamed for being compelled to hold the general during the epidemic because of the restriction imposed through the 19th Amendment.  

Mr. Gammanpila said the 19th Amendment bars the President from dissolving Parliament until it completes four and a half years. “That is why the President had to wait til March 2 to dissolve Parliament,” he said. 

We are now in power. We have our President, Prime Minister and  ministers. If the election is held, we will definitely win. Hence, we  will be in power with or without elections.