President's victory historic - Nawaz Rajabdeen

Past President FCCISL and Chairman, Hotel Developers the owning company of Colombo Hilton, Nawaz Rajabdeen said the election victory was historic as President Mahinda Rajapaksa won with a majority of over 1.8 mln votes and it was after so many decades that the election was held simultaneously in all parts of the country though the results of the North and the East were not beneficial for the President.

He said that 65 percent of the rural masses had voted for President Rajapaksa. They were not concerned about the Cost of Living but were thankful that terrorism had been wiped out of this country.

He said that the low voter turnout and the negative results in the North and the East showed that local politicians had been rejected. The President will address these issues in the next six years. Politicians play double games but the scenario in the North and the East will change by the end of this year. President Rajapaksa has eradicated terrorism. There are minor incidents but these will be sorted out in due course.

President Rajapaksa has got the second mandate for development. The win is historic and the process is democratic.

Rajabdeen said that with the end of the war investors have already started to come and this victory has further built the confidence of the investors. He said that big factories cannot be set up in the North and the East at present. Initially, it should be micro and small factories. Agro based industries will be supported through the Export Development Board and the Agriculture Ministry while the tourism industry will be supported by India as well as the European countries.

To attract big-time investors infrastructure should be in place. He said the Government is already putting it in place and added that by the second half of 2011 the infrastructure will be in place.The second term of President Rajapaksa will create a development boom in the country, said Rajabdeen.