13 August 2019 03:46 am
The Rajapaksa faction had nominated the weakest candidate ever fielded by them for the upcoming presidential election, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said yesterday.
JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath told a news conference that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had proved in practice that he was poor in financial and administrative discipline.
“It is not a new thing that Gotabaya cannot change this country. Even though he was announced as the presidential candidate on Sunday, it had been discussed over a year,” he said.
He said some recommendations had been presented jointly by the Mahanayake Theras and leaders of other religions to be adopted when fielding candidates for election including a recommendation that the candidate should be free of any pending cases or convicted of any criminal activity and added that according to those recommendations Gotabaya was not eligible to contest the election.
MP Herath said the National People’s Power together with the JVP would field a candidate who will fulfil all recommendation of the religious leaders including Mahanayake Theras.
“People who were disappointed by the actions of the previous governments were now demanding an alternative force. The alternative force, National People’s Power, comprising of 28 organisations and the JVP will field a candidate who can guarantee national security and economic development,” he said.
He said all governments so far had put the country into a debt trap and added that they had created communal clashes and the national security at stake.
MP Herath said the JVP will announce its presidential candidate at a rally to be held at the Galle Face grounds on Sunday and hinted that the candidate will be someone who was engaged in active politics and worked for peoples rights. (Ajith Siriwardana)
Video by Susantha
Pix by Damith Wickramasinghe