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Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa speaking on the spate of revolutions that swept across the Arab continent said that a revolution of the sort should not take place in Sri Lanka.
“There are various groups who are trying to topple this government and have taken example from the wave of protests in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt. Sri Lanka does not need such a revolution because this country is a fledgling democracy and unlike those countries which were governed for decades by dictators this country has never had such a situation,” he said.
The outspoken Secretary of Defence who is largely known for his definite stance on issues of national security said that various groups have infiltrated universities in order to organise such protests.
“We have nothing against peaceful protesting against the government, that is a clear sign of the robust democracy that prevails in this country, but the protest cannot threaten public peace and hinder university studies, we would not allow any such protest to threaten the freedom that we have fought so hard to win,” he said.
The secretary further pointed out that if people want to topple the government they should do so by using their franchise.
“If anyone wants to change the government they should do so at the polling booth and not by any other means which would threaten the peace and stability of the country, the country now has seen the end of the war and is rapidly growing economically and this should not be derailed,” Rajapaksa said.
Speaking further the secretary said that the government of this country “must and will listen to the voice of the people”. (Supun Dias and Hafeel Farisz)