28 January 2010 03:39 pm
Opposition Common Candidate General Sarath Fonseka, at a press briefing held this evening, humored allegations being leveled by the government that he along with his advisors were planning a coup threatening the hierarchy of the government.
“This would then be a mess officer’s coup. The government thinks that I’m as stupid to plan a coup so close to the President’s office in a hotel. There are other strategic means of doing this and there are those that have made such plans before and I would not make plans in this manner,” General Fonseka said.
Fonseka meanwhile said he will contest the Parliamentary elections under the symbol of the swan. “I must uphold my promises to the people of believable change. The people voted for me and I have won this election, although the results have been distorted,” Fonseka told the media this evening.
He also expressed his distress at the security being provided to him. “They have left me with only four Policemen and I have had to resort to employing unarmed civilians. There is a Supreme Court order that my security contingent of 70 should at no time be reduced, however this President does not respect the law of this country,” he said.
He further added that the incidents on the day following the polls were planned attempts to harass him and get rid of him. “We have received information that at the last Security Council meeting they have planned on seizing my house, the house of the opposition leader and my party office. Further they have black-listed my passport and have been summoning those close to me, including my-son-in-law to the CID,” he said.
The General also stated that a number of his supporters had been taken into custody.
He further stated that the results if the election are unacceptable. “We have sent a letter to the elections commissioner and we have begun initiating court proceedings to contest these legitimacy of these results. During the early stages reliable sources told us that I had a 1.4 million lead to him. This amount has been transferred to the President. They have manipulated the results to show that people in the North and East have voted for me and those in the South for him, this is again creating separatism in the country,” he said.