AKD - the best deal politician the country has seen: Johnston

 By Yohan Perera  

Members of Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) members K.D. Lalkantha and Sunil Handunnetti who called for the forcible take over of Parliament had evaded arrest following a deal with certain sections of the government, MP Johnston Fernando said.  

I ask the JVP to tell the nation how they managed to dodge the arrests,” he told a public gathering in Tissamaharama over the weekend

  “Anura Kumara Dissanayake at Galle Face tried to provoke people. He told people to attack and kill others. People occupied the Presidential Secretariat and set the Prime Minister’s house on fire. At a protest near Parliament junction, Hadunnetti and Lalkantha of the JVP called on people to lay siege to it. Wasantha Mudalige who too led the protests was taken into custody, but Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Lalkantha and Handunnetti escaped arrest. I did not see any of them visit the police to give a statement. They struck a deal with the government and evaded arrest. Anura Kumara Dissanayake is the best deal politician that the country has seen. I ask the JVP to tell the nation how they managed to dodge the arrests,” he told a public gathering in Tissamaharama over the weekend.   

I am so happy and feel honoured to address this meeting in Tissamaharama electorate. I came here to address a meeting in 2009 or 2010. I spoke of the JVP then. I can see a large number of crowds in this meeting and appreciate their presence despite many challenges. Democracy would not last without ensuring the rights of people to vote, and to support the political parties and ideologies of their preference and freedom to attend rallies. According to Anura Kumara Dissanayake these rights and freedoms should be there only for the members of his party. He can hold meetings and utter lies and sling mud. People put up posters and pictures of Mahinda Rajapaksa because they had such love and respect for him. It is he who ended a war that lasted for 30 years and enabled people to live without fear and terror. It is you in the South who had sent Mahinda Rajapaksa to parliament. Therefore I respect you. We are indebted to you because of your decision that later resulted in ending the war. When Mahinda Rajapaksa accepted the Presidency, the economy of this country was in crisis. Yet he did not stop the war until he saw its end. Mahinda Rajapaksa who won the presidency in 2005 by 180,000 votes polled more than one million votes in 2010. He developed this country. He built roads. Thankful to him, today, it took only one and half hours for me to come from Kottawa via the expressway. There was a time when it took weeks to organize a trip to Kataragama. Today it takes only three to four hours. When the Southern Expressway was being built, the JVP criticized it. Today they use the same road to come to Colombo to protest against the Rajapaksas. The JVP promised to develop Tissamaharama after they won the power of its Pradeshiya Sabha. Have they been able to do that? Anura Dissanayake was in the JVP at that time as well. I call on you to focus on how much they spend for election rallies. Where do they get such money? What would have happened if Mahinda Rajapaksa held a rally at such an expense?”  

he questioned.