PM urges protesting youth to think rationally

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his address to the nation last night, said that the protesters carrying national flag in anti-government protests should not forget who had enabled them to put up the national flag anywhere in the country.

The Prime Minister called on the protesters not to denigrate and harass the security forces’ members and police who were on duty because it was they who had fought the war to save the country for future generations.

Every second the protesters spend on the road would deprive the chances of this country receiving tourism dollars, the Premier said, calling on people to be patient in this critical situation.

Rajapaksa said that the government was engaged in a massive programme to save the country from the crises. Every second of the President and the government is spent for the purpose of saving this nation from further crises. The government has decided to restore fertilizer subsidy to farmers.

“Now we hear a slogan rejecting all 225 MPs. If that slogan means a rejection of democracy, then taking a simple glance into the recent past would enable one to understand its possible danger. We witnessed how democracy was rejected by bombing parliament. Thereafter we witnessed how our roads were soaked with the blood of youth. Thousands of youth perished on tyres. I therefore call on youth not to drag this country to that past again.”

Prime Minister Rajapaksa said that those who held the power were bound by the responsibility to uphold the democratic administrative structure and decisions would be made without harming it.

He said that the economy had suffered because of the pandemic and its effects. “We called on all parties to join hands with us to save this nation. The need of the hour is to think about the economy rather than the party agendas. We ended a 30-year long war not to see them suffer in this manner. We constructed expressways not to keep people in queues along those roads. We built harbours not to turn away oil ships since we have no money to pay.”

The Premier also said it was they who had started building required power plants, but the party that came to power thereafter had not done anything.