By Saman Indrajith

The JVP says President Ranil Wickremesinghe fears elections, given the UNP’s pathetic performance at the last general election (2020), where it failed to have at least a single MP elected by the people.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, addressing the JVP-led NPP’s Kesbewa electoral organisation meeting on Saturday, said that the country needed an election to get rid of the dredges of an old system but the government was afraid of elections.  “The government is hell-bent on finding an excuse to postpone local government elections. Wickremesinghe could not muster enough votes to enter Parliament. He came through the backdoor. Therefore, it is only natural for him to fear elections. He knows that if he suffers another electoral loss, he will not be able to hold onto the presidency. So, he is doing everything in his power to postpone elections. People ousted the SLPP regime and the makeshift government now ruling the country does so without a mandate.”

Dissanayake said Wickremesinghe had recently visited Trincomalee and there stated that Sri Lanka would have had fuel at present if we had sold the oil tank farms in the past. “We have a fuel shortage not because we failed to sell the oil tank farm but because we do not have dollars,” Dissanayake said.

“People would not put up with this repressive regime any longer. When the people fought for their rights, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to flee the country. Mahinda Rajapaksa had to take flight from Temple Trees to go into hiding in a Navy camp in Trincomalee. Basil Rajapaksa could not board a plane. That is people power. So, we warn the incumbent regime to expect the next uprising of people and see the consequences if they further delay elections,” he said. NPP National Exco members former MP Lakshman Nipunarachchi and Vraîe Cally Balthazaar aslo addressed the gathering.