By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama  

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government had provided sufficient funds and measures to end the fuel and gas queues and stop power interruptions before Gotabaya stepped down as president, presidential candidate Namal Rajapaksa said today during his election campaign in Avissawella.  

He made this statement in response to claims by several individuals who said they were responsible for resolving these issues.  

There were reasons for the former president to step down.  

If the Uma Oya Hydropower Complex and the Sampur Power Station had been completed on time by the Yahapalanaya government, Gotabaya Rajapaksa would not have had to step down. The Yahapalanaya government deliberately postponed these projects, and that blame eventually fell on Gotabaya’s administration.  

Namal Rajapaksa pointed out that the same fate which befell the Bangladeshi Prime Minister also happened to Gotabaya Rajapaksa.  

“A conspiracy was carried out to oust our leaders, and the Gotabaya government was caught in it. Later, we took steps to restore political stability in the country. While we did stabilize the situation, some of the policies did not align with our beliefs, and we refused to support them in Parliament,” he said.  

Most advisors urged us to abandon nationalism and follow the trend. They also suggested passing the 13th Amendment while working to protect the election system.   

In the end, we reached a decision to establish a political force that would not lead to further division of the country. We made it clear that police and land powers would not be given to the Northern Province. That stance was taken by eight executive presidents before us. We are not interested in creating racial disunity for political gain. Please trust that we do not make decisions that harm the country, even if it may hurt us politically.”