Weak Opposition increasingly relying on foreign forces - Prof. Peiris

A weak and fragmented Opposition, totally lacking in confidence with no positive expectation with regard to the future, is increasingly pinning its hopes on foreign elements, Minister of External Affairs, Prof. G.L. Peiris said in Beliatta on Thursday.

This became quite apparent during the Budget Debate, in the course of which Opposition speakers candidly admitted that the Government has no challenge whatsoever to face within the country, the Minister said.

This situation makes it all the more important for the wider community, as beneficiaries of the changes brought about by the Government, to raise their collective voice in defence of all their valued gains and, by doing so, to preserve these gains for the future without the danger of erosion or turning back, the Minister said.

There can be no better opportunity for this than the forthcoming Provincial Council elections, he said.

He was addressing the SLFP Bala Mandalaya in Beliatta. Chief Organiser of the SLFP for Beliatta and Water Resources and Water Management Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa presided.

Prof. Peiris, who is in charge of the UPFA campaign in the Hambantota district, remarked that it is appropriate to reflect on these matters in Beliatta, where both President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his father, the late D.A. Rajapaksa, established the foundation of their political careers.

He referred to the unprecedented development of infrastructure and the growth of industrial activity, particularly in the vicinity of the Hambantota port, which has resulted in a phenomenal increase in the value of lands and property owned by the people of the area, and clear indications of enhanced prosperity.

The flourishing of tourism has ensured the distribution of these benefits over a wide swathe of the community, the Minister remarked.

He emphasised that these advantages, which now seem to be taken for granted, must be protected and consolidated since these benefits are under attack, both directly and insidiously, by a variety of sources. Prof. Peiris also addressed the SLFP Bala Mandalaya in Tangalle, chaired by SLFP Chief Organiser for Tangalle and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera.