Sajith’s UNP membership will be reinstated if he supports Govt.: Prez

By Yohan Perera and J.A.L.Jayasinghe

Colombo, July 15 (Daily Mirror) - President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday urged Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and National Peoples Power (NPP) to turn Sri Lanka into a developed nation and pledged to revive SJB Leader’s UNP membership if the former decides to support him.

President Wickremesinghe who addressed a rally in Kandy said the Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa’s UNP membership will be reinstated if he supports the government. “Tell the SJB leader that his membership of the UNP would be reinstated if he supports us to revive the nation. We are gradually coming out of bankruptcy at the moment. There are targets which we should achieve. We have managed to strike a deal with our creditor nations. Our current GDP is $ 85 million. We are to increase this to $ 350 million by the year 2040. We will construct a luxury hotel in Bogambara and elsewhere in Kandy. In addition Japan is prepared to assist us to construct the central expressway,” he said.

“Some say I am supporting the Rajapaksas. I only undertook to take the nation out of the crisis. The Rajapaksas and a majority of SLPP members supported me while a small fraction crossed over to the opposition. Some SJB members and others also supported me. I undertook this task following the UNP leaders of yester year. Late Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake went to India with the then Prime Minister Late Sirimavo Bandaranaike and signed the Shasthri pact to grant citizenship to some estate sector Tamils. When questioned on this stand Late Mr. Senanayake said he supported Ms.Bandaranaike for the sake of the nation, Late President J. R. Jayewardene supported Ms. Bandaranaike to overcome insurgency in 1971. All what I did was to follow the UNP tradition,” he said.

The Ministers and MPs who spoke at the rally including Mahindananda Aluthgamage, S.B. Dissanayakes, Dilum Amunugama, Lohan Ratwatte , Kanchna Wijesekara and Ramesh Pathirana who spoke at the rally pledged his support to Wickremesinghe at the next presidential election.