Minister Mahinda Yapa pooh-poohs Sirisena’s ‘national govt’

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa was a popular and powerful leader. That is why a strong political party such as the UNP withdrew from the presidential election campaign and fielded a complete outsider as the Common Opposition Candidate.

What is more Maithripala is from the SLFP. The UNP wanted a breakaway group from the SLFP and fielded Maithripala Sirisena as the Common Opposition Candidate because they know that they will never defeat the incumbent President.

They want to make use of this candidate who is a ‘fragmentation’ of the SLFP and get the support of other political parties, the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday.

Even the main Opposition, the UNP is well aware that they can’t win the presidential election. That is why they withdrew from the political fray. They even withdrew their political symbol and colour. They have leased the UNP to a complete outsider. This is the second national election to be held in the country without the elephant symbol and the colour green. Since the multi-party system has been operating in our country, the UNP’s elephant symbol and green colour was there, he said.

Minister Abeywardena said the target of the common opposition front is to topple the Government and defeat the President. They have no plans beyond 100 days. Their entire program is only for 100 days. This means that they are in the dark after 100 days. Nobody knows what is happening and who is going to control the country after 100 days. They are dragging the nation into a dark era.

“What is a national Government? I don’t know whether Maithripala Sirisena knows the interpretation of a national government.

A national government should be a national one and it should be a representation of all sectors of the nation.

How will Maithripla form a national government ? Because we are not going to join it. It can never be a national government.” If Maithripala Sirisena says President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government is a national government, that is acceptable because we have all the communities under a single banner of the UPFA government.

Maithripala is only a fragmentation of the SLFP. How can he say that he is the national leader of this country? He broke away from the SLFP and says that he is the national leader, the Minister said.