Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who sounded aggressive in expressing his desire to get the 19th Amendment passed yesterday said that all those who were involved in conspiracies to stop it from being enacted, including the Rajapaksa, would be swept away from politics.

“If we cannot get the 19th Amendment passed in parliament we will present it to a new parliament and all those who try to jeopardise it will be swept away from politics,” he said, indicating that parliament would be dissolved if this piece of legislation could not be passed on April 27. He said all those who tried to jeopardise this move and all those who had robbed public funds would also be swept away.

Mr. Wickremesinghe made this point when he met some party activists at Temple Trees this evening.

He said major protests would be held near parliament on April 27 to force the MPs who were against the 19th Amendment to support it.

The Prime Minister reiterated that certain groups were defending the wrongdoers and using parliament for such activities. He said such a parliament was not needed.

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said those who opposed political reforms were traitors.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the UNP would use its May Day rally to press for political reforms and to show the party’s strength. (Yohan Perera and Darshana Sanjeewa)