Victory for patriotic forces

It was so near but yet so far for Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mangala Samaraweera, Rauf Hakeen, R. Sampanthan and Velupillai Prabhakaran. Never had a Budget voting created so much of interest in the history of our country.

Even the little hope Opposition Leader Wickremesinghe had of toppling the Government was shattered after the third reading of the Budget 2008 was passed by a convincing margin of 114-67. Wickremesinghe was on the top of the world hours before the final voting. He had plenty of reasons to live in a dream world after SLMC Leader Rauf Hakeem and three other MPs joined the opposition just 48 hours before the Budget 2008 final vote. Then on the day of the voting, Minister Anura Bandaranaike crossed the floor of the House to join the opposition. All these developments led the UNP and its leader into a world of fantasy.

But it was the JVP which shattered Wickremesinghe's hopes and threw him out of that dream world. Living up to their previous stand that they would not support the UNP by any mean to form a Government, the JVP decided to abstain from voting.

The JVP may have had its own views on various matters, but President Mahinda Rajapaksa's vision on the country, its sovereignty and territorial integrity definitely falls in line with the thinking of the JVP.

Though the JVP voted against the Budget 2008 at the second reading, they could not act against their conscience when it mattered most.

The UNP made every endeavour to topple the Government, by inflicting a defeat at the third reading of the Budget on Friday. Wickremesinghe and his party stalwarts had many sleepless nights in mobilising all forces against the Government.

On the other hand, Tiger-proxy TNA played all their cards to make use of this opportunity to see a change of Government that would give some relief to the demoralised LTTE which is finding it increasingly difficult to face the advancing Security Forces. All what the TNA and the LTTE wanted were to get rid of this Government which 'harassed' them the most. That is why the LTTE threw millions of rupees to 'buy' votes.

Unfortunately, some of the democratic parties in the South, in their greed for power, fell into the trap of the LTTE, which has now become a fast fading outfit.

But the sensible thinking of the JVP beat all odds and helped the Government to win the Budget voting by a thumping margin as Wickremesinghe ate humble pie.

The JVP is a party which is committed to protect our motherland. They have always proved their genuine desire to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country. Their decision to abstain from voting would enable the Government to continue its drive to eradicate terrorism. A change of Government at this stage would jeopardise our national security and hamper the Security Forces' drive against terrorism. That is the worst we could expect at this stage. But for the LTTE, that is the exact position they looked forward to as that would cripple the current Security Forces offensive against the terrorists.

With this setback, Opposition Leader Wickremesinghe's pipe dream of regaining power now completes one year.

Right from the beginning of this year, he set various deadlines to topple the Government - Mid January, March, April New Year, June end, Emergency Bills, Mid August, October 19, Budget 2008 second voting, Budget 2008 third voting and Year end. It's those dreams that have kept Wickremesinghe going during this year.

Having previously lost 15 successive elections at various levels, including back to back Presidential elections to Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and President Rajapaksa, Wickremesinghe has now failed in successive attempts to topple the Government through Budget 2008 voting. At least now, he should learn a lesson after 17 successive defeats and give up the habit of looking for short cuts to regain power for which beyond reasonable doubts, he has now proved his inability.

Sacked former Ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriarachchi too have proved that there is nobody within the Government ranks who would support them. Though they boasted of getting 18 Government MPs to join the Opposition, not a single SLFP Parliamentarian did so. Even though Wijayadasa Rajapakshe and Anura Bandaranaike sat with the opposition, the duo did not vote against the Budget. That is an indication how popular they are and how influential they are. They are the people who kept Wickremesinghe in a dream world. Undoubtedly the UNP leader would be now regretting signing an MoU with Samaraweera and Sooriarachchi that gave equal status to the two-member rebel team.

Despite many ups and downs and sinister moves by various elements, President Rajapaksa has taken his vision forward. The UNP, TNA, SLMC, SLFP rebels and LTTE have tried numerous tactics to topple the Government and put pressure on the President to stop the Security Forces' drive against terrorism. But he has stood firm and given admirable leadership to our brave Security Forces like a tower of strength.

Irrespective of their race, political affiliations or social status, people from all walks of life are wholeheartedly backing President Rajapaksa for his untiring efforts to protect our Motherland, liberate innocent civilians in the North and East from the clutches of LTTE terrorism and to take Sri Lanka towards economic prosperity.

Many believe that he is the person who could tame the Tigers and bring an honourable peace acceptable to all communities in the country. Now that the joint opposition has shown its true colours, it is the duty of all loyal and patriotic forces to rally round the President and strengthen his hands to help Sri Lanka's battle against terrorism to a successful culmination.