Artistes rue poor ‘show’ by Govt.

All those who supported this Government should apologise to the people. Artistes should be with people because they believe in us 
- Dhananjaya Siriwardana

Many of the artistes expressed their disappointment towards the incumbent regime

Many artistes endorsed the incumbent Government during the 2019 Presidential Elections. These included amateur as well as senior artistes who participated in everything from theme songs to social media campaigns. However, many of them joined a mass protest in front of the Presidential Secretariat on April 4 (Monday), standing in solidarity with the people. Many of them expressed their disappointment towards the incumbent regime while requesting artistes who endorsed this government to come forward and accept that they made a mistake and to apologise to the public.  

Artistes should stand with people

“We came here because of the people. They are struggling to live at the moment. As an artiste I came for them. I never supported this Government. I have my way of thinking. But people accepted this Government and now they have rejected them all. Finally they recognised the true nature of the Government. Artistes should stand with the people, or else people will reject us as well,” said Chillie Thilanka. 

“April 4 is a special day for both of us as it is our eighth wedding anniversary. We should be celebrating somewhere, but how can we do that? People are in pain and they have been cheated for many years. We have a baby, but we don’t see any future for our children. They keep cheating on us. We came here because they cheated on us. This is the last chance we had, but now we don’t have a chance. Why did they do this for humanity? We came here to support the public. All 225 politicians should go home. Kindly step down or find a solution. I’m not one of those artistes who supported this government. Even though my brother is a candidate we have our own opinions on politics. I wasn’t there on any stage endorsing him or any other politician. It’s true that I voted for this government, but that is my fundamental right. But I haven’t received any support from the Government. I’m a freelancer and more than anything I’m an artiste in this country. I don’t like those who go behind politicians. We don’t need a political party because we should be with the people. All those who supported this Government should apologise to the people. Artistes should be with people because they believe in us. We don’t have any option now. We are helpless with this useless Government. If they have a little shame please step down and respect the people’s voice,” said Dhananjaya Siriwardana.   

Govt. should step down and respect the people’s voice

Dhananjaya (right) with wife Shashini participating at the protest

“I’m here on behalf of my country. I don’t have any political party that I support. We waited for solutions, but we didn’t get any. I also have voted for this Government. But they have failed and we need to see a change and see a brighter future for our children,” said Nadini Premadasa. 

“I’m tired of the incompetence shown by this Government and I’m tired of corruption. There’s no future for my baby or the next generation. I want all of this to end and I want a better future for the next generation. I actually want everybody to live a luxurious life. Sri Lankans deserve it. They have been through so much and it’s high time to end corruption and let people live their lives. That’s why I joined Sri Lankans today. I hope the leaders of this country would listen to what we are saying and asking for and make the right decision,” said 

Dinakshie Priyasad.   

Artistes who endorsed this Government should accept that they made a mistake

“We have also worked with this Government in projects such as Ranaviru Real Star, but we worked with them as artistes. But the only thing is we were not on stage requesting people to vote for them. We are freelancers and therefore we have to work with any Government. People do make mistakes. Even though we didn’t vote in 2019 we understand why people voted for this Government. Especially with the Easter Attacks and the promises they gave us, they said that they’ll apprehend the culprits of the Central Bank Bond scam, but none of this happened. This is not something that happened in a day or two, but gradually people have come to this state. Still we request people who endorsed this Government to come forward and say that they made a mistake. It could be a genuine mistake, but it’s still not too late to stand with the people,” said Saranga Disasekara.

I voted for this Government, but they have failed

Nadini (right) with husband participating at the people's protest on April 4

“It’s high time to end corruption and let people live their lives”

“Something people have forgotten is that we didn’t put any posts to influence our friends on social media. These posts were made by others. We didn’t put a single post influencing anyone. After the election we did put a post congratulating the President. But there were fake posts made by others and several of them are still being circulated. We did support this Government and that is our right and we are part of the 6.9 million people. But we are saddened by the fact that the expectations have not come true. What we wanted were changes in copyrights, more entrepreneurship for youngsters and we wanted international exposure for the youth. When they approached us we gave our opinion, but unfortunately some of them never happened and certain things we thought would never happen, have happened. Right now we are with the people. But people also need to keep in mind to hashtag the right thing and be mindful about how they express themselves. If we handle this with too much vengeance it will go out of hand. People are fighting for their hopes and dreams. This country can’t go into anarchy. The Government and the President should listen to the voice of the people. When the Government was elected to power they even offered us various posts and designations, but we rejected them. We were fighting for the betterment of the youth,” said Santhush Weeraman.  

We didn’t put a single post influencing anyone