27 September 2022 09:27 am
It is interesting to witness today that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has resorted to doing what Gotabaya Rajapaksa did not as President, Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa said.
The last resort of a failed politician who has been rejected by the people is dictatorial ambitions. But there is no slightest of opportunities in this country for dictatorships, Mr. Premadasa added.
Addressing a mass rally organized by the SJB at Kaduwela over the weekend, Mr. Premadasa went onto say that the Sri Lankans are confronted with a tripartite trepidation instigated by the government, namely the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), newly gazetted High Security Zones and the establishment of a Broadcasting Authority.
“The government fears the people. The people demand freedom from hardships brought about by the Gota-Ranil regime. These undemocratic steps have been taken by the government to make the life of 22 million Sri Lankans more miserable, unbearable and hellish. But 5.8 million families subjected to immense sufferings and distress cannot be silenced in this way by a regime hated, detested and rejected by a whole nation,” Mr. Premadasa emphasized.
‘The government pledged to bring prosperity and splendour to Sri Lanka during their election campaigns two years ago but has turned the country into a hell on earth by now. Some say that they can see the heaven when they climb the Lotus Tower. But alas, they also can see the hell at the same time when they look down. It is heart rending to see news reports that people in some parts of the country are digging the bottom of dried up tanks for lotus yams to buy a packet of milk powder for their kids. The government has pushed 6.1 million people under extreme poverty while a vast majority of the population doesn’t get three square meals per day. Hunger, malnutrition and anemia are wide spread. This is the prosperity and splendour the Ranil - Rajapaksa regime gave the 22 million people of this country,” Mr. Premadasa noted.
The proposed Broadcasting Authorities Act (BAA) also came under heavy criticism by Mr. Premadasa when he said that the attempts to muzzle the media and silence journalists indicate that the end of the Ranil Wickremesinghe regime is sooner than they expect.
Before long, the SJB would rally the entire country against using of draconian PTA to suppress the media and journalists, strangle dissent and protest by the youths and to stifle the anger and despise on the government by the masses who have been subjected to immense sufferings and pain. The illegal designation of high security zones in Colombo under the provisions of the Official Secret Act of 1955 has strictly restricted the public liberty. Therefore, the day will not be too far when the entire electorate would converge on the street to boot this cursed regime out,” Mr. Premadasa stressed.( Sandun A Jayasekera)