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Answering a question by an editor with regard to the progress of the Government - TNA discussions, he said the TNA should come to discussions without harbouring the agenda of the section of Tamil Diaspora, which still propagates an LTTE ideology. "They came for discussions but are still unable to reach an effective agreement as they are being controlled by interested parties", he said."Will Sarath Fonseka be given pardon" was the main query made by some editors. "Lots of people meet me to be pardoned or released. The discussions with Tiran Alles was not something out of the ordinary. But no family member of the Fonseka family has made such a request from me. I heard that they launched a campaign to collect signatures requesting the release of Fonseka. Even if these signatures are sent to President Obama, he will refer it to me and the final decision lies with me. There is no use to trail behind the international community or any other person", he said. When an editor said the President's decision was enough for Fonseka's release, he said then the media would tag him as a dictator. Peaceful Christmas" If I do it you are the first to sling mud at me", a smiling President Rajapaksa said. It is absolutely a peaceful Christmas that wrapped the four corners of the country with joy and happiness. Christmas bells ring in mud-thatched houses and in mansions as well. The President's residence was busy preparing for Christmas and treating guests who arrived for the State Christmas Festival in the middle of last week.President Mahinda Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa welcomed the guests, including the Archbishop of Colombo Rev Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, who later said Sri Lanka was capable of solving its own problems and attempts by some people to run to the international community to solve problems was not acceptable. “We can solve our own problems because we have religious, spiritual and the moral rectitude necessary in our own cultures to solve our problems by ourselves. We also have the necessary courage to do that because we are a people of courage,” he said. In a Christmas message, President Rajapaksa said at a time the world is sharing the joy of Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, he shares the hope in these prayers I send my warmest good wishes for a Christmas full of joy, peace and goodwill to all Christians in Sri Lanka. “The story of Christmas has great meaning to all humankind. The birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in a stable in Bethlehem, is a powerful reminder of the message of humility, love and sharing that is spread with the ringing of Christmas bells in this festive season. Strong bonds with the poor“The sheep in whose midst the Child Jesus was born and lay on a manger, and the shepherds who first paid tribute to the Son of God, shows us that Christian love has strong bonds with the poor and the common people and should also extend to all other beings that share this world with us. “In this season of loving and giving, Christians seek to break the barriers that divide people, whether by race, ethnicity, religion, caste, wealth or social status. “The message 'Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all' that came with the first Christmas has relevance to the world today as it faces increasing challenges of hatred, terror, national rivalry, economic crisis, climate change and food insecurity. The prayers of Christians in this Season of Goodwill seek to ease the burdens of society with the love that is re-kindled with the nativity of Jesus Christ", he stated in his message. President Rajapaksa, joining the committee-stage debate of the Appropriation Bill as the Minister of Finance and Planning, said the Budget proposals for 2012 were development-oriented as it was prepared following the response of the people and the research conducted by various institutions on the Budget’s impact. He said the research conducted by the Financial Times has revealed that 64 percent of the people in the country maintained that this Budget was people-friendly. Budget appreciated"This was the first time in history that a Budget was appreciated outside Parliament, parallel to the passage of the Appropriation Bill with a majority of 91 votes at the second reading. Another research by the government prior to the Budget revealed 68.7 percent of the people were content with the development projects implemented by the government", he said. Delivering the winding-up speech in the third reading stage of the Budget debate, the President invited the Opposition to join in developing the nation’s economy rather than satisfying the international community. " The attempt by the government to maintain the Budget deficit at a rate of 6.2 percent of the national income is identified by the Opposition as neoliberalism and it was an attempt to look down on the ‘Mahinda Chinthanaya’. They attempted to confuse this Budget with the neoliberalism may be because they happened to recall their unpleasant experience of attempting to sell a large number of public institutions, including CPC, Railways, Sri Lanka Customs, People’s Bank etc to fill the Budget deficit during 2002-2004 under the ‘Regaining Sri Lanka’ program. The policy maintained by this government in preparing the budget was poles apart from the Opposition and this government has never attempted to bridge the Budget gap by selling public institutions. He added that even the Embilipitiya paper factory that was assumed to be beyond rejuvenation was handed over to the private sector, keeping room for the government to intervene", he said. Emphasising the need of regaining what the country lost, he said hadn’t Jaffna Mayor Duraiyappa been assassinated we would have been a nation speaking of national unity and peace instead of one that speaks of terrorism. He also said he hoped that UNP leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe would build a strong Opposition by uniting the party and the Budget 2012 had shown the nation that there is a failed Opposition in Parliament. "The main Opposition UNP instead of bringing out constructive criticism and participating in the Budget debate is engaged in an internal power struggle to remove its party leader. Rather than rallying around its leader and bringing up an alternative program against the government’s financial plan for the next year and thereby showing their strength to face future elections, the Opposition is divided to highlight their personal images in accordance with some other agendas, he said. "The Opposition has now come to a point of soul-searching and asking themselves the question whether they have the leadership or not to participate in the process of democracy. They should at least now accept their democratically-elected leader and extend their share of contributions for the country’s development. When I came to this House to present the Budget proposals on November 21, some Opposition MPs tried to disrupt it without knowing the content of the proposals", he said thanking the TNA, JVP and New Democratic Front for displaying more maturity and setting an example to others by participating in the debade. The President stressed that army camps set up at district level were of national importance, and these camps which had been established with the intention of promoting national security would not be removed. President Mahinda Rajapaksa requested the Opposition MPs not to belittle the service rendered by war heroes and not to disrupt the government's endeavour to make security forces a professional service. In other countries, the government did not impose compulsory retirement for war heroes after the conclusion of war. The 2012 Budget proposals the government made necessary allocations to enhance the talents and skills of the Security Forces by enabling them to acquire professional recognition. Special relief measures had been proposed for the welfare of war heroes and for parents of the war heroes to help them to attain their due social recognition", he said.President Rajapaksa said even though certain Opposition MPs criticised the contribution of the security forces, the Security Forces Personnel were providing their support for the country's development, and participating even in international humanitarian relief measures. When he met the General Secretary of the UNP Tissa Attanayake, where he handed over his autobiography 'Tissa', the President thanked him for 'saving' for the UNP leader. " This is the hero who saved the party leader", he embarrassed Attanayaka. " Speaking at the first year anniversary of the Litro Gas Company, President Rajapaksa said he never hesitated in taking decisions for the good and well-being of the country, like he did when he took a firm decision to protect the sovereignty of the nation. "We had to decide if we are going to see this country divided or liberated from the clutches of murderous terrorists. The benefit of that decision is being reaped by the people today". Stressing the need to preserve state institutions and similarly turn them into profitable ventures where the public could reap the dividends, President Rajapaksa recalled the time when national assets were privatised under various pretexts to be handed over to foreigners. If the country's assets were to be owned by outsiders, we would be reduced to slaves. He recalled the time when he was Labour Minister how attempts were made to privatise the saltern". "It was said that the Insurance Company and Apollo Hospital belonged to the Rajapaksas. It is only now that the people realise that this is not so. Similarly, when an agency was created to send Sri Lankans for foreign jobs it was said that it was my agency. But we won't be deterred by such falsehoods, he said.The President said such lies and falsehoods had only a short lifespan and called on the people not to reverse the trend by being taken in by falsehoods and rumours. |
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