I will win by huge margin: Mahinda

5 January 2015 06:25 pm

Addressing the final election propaganda rally at Kesbewa today the President said he came to Kesbewa after touring the North, East, South and the Central provinces and by the massive crowds that gathered in thousands at UPFA propaganda rallies he was fully confident that he would win the Presidential Election by a huge margin.
President Rajapaksa lamented saying that Common Opposition candidate Maithrpala Sirisena was set to sell the free education in the country by pledging to create a loan scheme for GCE A/L students who failed to enter University to study further. 
He pointed out that the Common Opposition manifesto had pledged on page 41 in his manifesto to launch a bank loan scheme for GCE A/L students who failed to enter the university to continue studies further was meant to destroy free education. 
 “This is a covert scheme aimed at charging students from kindergarten level. The manifesto also pledges to re-organize the state administration in line of the Tamasec system in Singapore in order to increase efficiency and productivity in the public sector. But we can still remember that how Chandrika planned to privatize about 40 state ventures and Ranil another 40 which I saved later,’ President Rajapaksa said.
He said important state ventures like SriLankan Airlines, Pelawatta and Sevanagala Sugar Factories and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation had been privatized under this scheme which later took over by the government under his leadership.
President Rajapaksa pointed out that former President Chandrika Kumaratunga had sold valuable prime lands in Battaramulla as cheap as Rs. 200 a acre to Ronny Peiris and he re-sold it to Sumal Perera. However, the court after an inquiry abolished the deal and fined Mrs. Kumaratunga as it was a national fraud. The regime under Ranil had decided to prune the public service to 300,000 from 700,000 saying it was a burden to the Treasury but the UPFA government under him has now increased the public service to 1.4 million as the government does not think the public service a burden to the government.
Outlining the development achieved in education under the UPFA government President Rajapaksa said plans were afoot to construct 1,000 Mahindodaya science labs, new technology labs and several University Colleges and also to enroll 100,000 students to universities. 
The government has launched the Port City project by reclaiming the sea and creating thousands of employment opportunities. Those mega development projects had been launched without incurring a cent to the Sri Lankan government, he said. (Sandun A Jayasekera)