Namal tells of their plans to Indian news site

It is the right time to have a stable government and invite Indian investors to take a lead role in the economic development of Sri Lanka, MP Namal Rajapaksa said yesterday in an interview with India News 18.

He also said that Sri Lanka needed a lot of support from friendly countries and that India had been the biggest supporter during the last couple of months and also historically.

“We believe that a lot of investments from all over the world that we had lined up during PM Mahinda Rajapaksa’s time are towards finalisation, and going into MoUs for construction, especially from India and few other countries. We need to expedite those projects, find a new PM and government to bring in these investments. I’m sure a lot of Indian investors have come forward to invest in Sri Lanka. Credit lines and grants and loans are all good but for the long-term, we need investments. It is the right time to have a stable government and invite Indian investors to take a lead role in that.”

It’s easy to carry out a revolution, it’s easy to carry out a protest or disruption, but rebuilding, development, forward thinking, and governing are the toughest things to do, he added.

Commenting on recent political developments, Rajapaksa said that the President had to take a tough stand and form a strong government and deliver what we have promised to the people, and bring economic and political stability.

“First, they wanted the cabinet to be dissolved and once the new cabinet was formed, they wanted the prime minister to resign. Now, he has resigned. After two days, we are here, talking without being able to find a new PM or form a government. What will happen if the President resigns tomorrow? We don’t have a PM, and we won’t have a President. Then where are we heading as a nation? Slogans are good but implementation is hard”, he said.

Rajapaksa said that the President has to govern the country for now, and that people will understand Sri Lanka is going through a hard time. He said that everyone will rally around and support if the President makes the right choices and if the caretaker government or interim government will be formed for the next six months to one year

Rajapaksa said that in his personal opinion the best option is to have an independent government. He also denied allegations that pro-government mobs were responsible for the violence. “Provocation was not just from pro-government, but from anti-government protesters too. Violence cannot be accepted in any form. Protests were driven by certain politically motivated organisations, and later on it went out of control. We believe that law and order has to be restored and all political parties should calm their followers down. This whole violence was pre-planned and was part of propaganda by certain political parties from the looks of it. Look at how they attacked the homes of parliamentarians,” he said.

Rajapaksa added that the violence in Sri Lanka began in late March when protesters attacked the President’s residence. The Police took six hours to control the situation and now it has developed into attacking homes of lawmakers.

“The violence began even before protests at Galle Face started. You cannot blame just one side,” he said.

Rajapaksa also denied allegations that his family members are fleeing the country. He said that the anti-government propagandists purposely created that story.

“They started running around the airports. This is not just to kill people or destroy property but to kill Sri Lanka economically. From our family’s side, I make sure that we have no reason to go out of the country. We have always stood by our people.”