Basil shouldn’t have left country on the eve of Prez poll

Mahinda should have retired after 2015 defeat

Political marriage with Ranil ruined SLPP though it saved country

By Shamaindra Ferdinando

SLPP National Organizer Namal Rajapaksa claimed that his uncle Basil Rajapaksa leaving the country on the eve of the recently concluded presidential election contributed to his heavy defeat at that poll.

Even Basil Rajapaksa is aware of how the SLPP’s political rivals used the social media to exploit that situation, young Rajapaksa said, pointing out they even claimed that me and my wife, too, fled the country. The former Minister said so appearing on the live political show Salakuna on Hiru TV on Monday night (0).

The panel of journalists consisted of Hiru anchor Chamuditha Samarawickrema, Panuka Rajapaksha and Kalindu Vithanage.

Namal Rajapaksa said that his uncle always used to leave the country on the eve of national elections, regardless of the ground situation. However, the latest foreign jaunt caused a major setback, the nephew asserted, indicating that he couldn’t do anything about Basil Rajapaksa’s movements.

Namal polled just 342,781 votes (2.57%) at the presidential poll, down from Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s 6,924,255 (52.25%) at the previous election held in Nov. 2019.

Namal Rajapaksa said that the major reason for the disastrous outcome at the presidential election was nothing but their alliance with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Declaring that the SLPP made a desperate attempt to reach a consensus with Wickremesinghe ahead of the presidential election, Namal Rajapaksa claimed their failed bid caused irreparable damage to the party.

The former parliamentarian declared that their whole strategy in bringing in Wickremesinghe as Premier in May 2022 and then electing him as the President from the Parliament they controlled in July, the same year, was a huge blunder. However, at the time they had no option but to accept that strategy to save the country from economic ruination, he claimed.

Responding to another query, the ex-MP recalled that he accepted the challenge at the last moment as their candidate (he was not named) pulled out of the race. Businessman and the then National List MP Dhammika Perera is on record as having said that he pulled out of the contest for personal reasons.

Acknowledging that the presidential election result didn’t reflect the expenditure of Rs 388 mn and financial liabilities amounting to Rs 199 mn, Namal Rajapaksa said that the SLPP is contesting the general election with the hope of showing a much improved performance.

According to him, in spite of the débâcle at the presidential poll, the result of the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha proved that the SLPP staged a quick comeback though the outcome of the general election couldn’t be ascertained on the basis of that LG poll.

Namal Rajapaksa harped on a severe setback caused by an influential section of the party switching its allegiance to Wickremesinghe who contested the presidential election as an independent candidate.

The ex-MP explained how he decided to come on the National List taking into consideration post-presidential poll developments and challenges ahead. “I couldn’t have carried out an ongoing campaign as the national organizer in case I was on the Hambantota district list.” Namal Rajapaksa dismissed the interviewing panel’s assertion that he got himself placed on the National List as he feared facing the electorate.

Referring to the improved SLPP performance at Elpitiya, Namal Rajapaksa claimed that they could have polled two or perhaps three times more than what the party obtained at the presidential poll.

Chamuditha Samarawickrema pointed out that the total number of votes polled by Namal Rajapaksa was very much less than the number of votes the party used to obtain from one electoral district.

Declaring that a major reorganization effort that had been initiated in the wake of the presidential polls defeat was suspended pending the conclusion of the general election, Namal Rajapaksa said that the party would resume the project this coming January. The Local Government polls that would be held early next year wouldn’t compel them to suspend the reorganisation, Namal Rajapaksa said, claiming that certain changes made on the ground at Elpitiya, too, helped the party to do better.

Commenting on his father’s political future, the ex-parliamentarian said that he believed Mahinda Rajapaksa shouldn’t have contested the 2015 presidential election. Namal Rajapaksa added that his father shouldn’t have engaged in active politics after his defeat at the 2015 presidential election.

Namal Rajapaksa reiterated the SLPP’s position that in spite of contradictory statements made by the NPP government, security provided to the war-winning President had been reduced. The government shouldn’t resort to such measures, the former Minister said, whatever changes in respect of security should be made on the basis of proper intelligence assessments.

Namal Rajapaksa said that the NPP continued to attack the SLPP and the Rajapaksas even after they won the presidential election. Declaring that they had been under threat since 2009 after the successful conclusion of the war, Namal Rajapaksa said that the Tamil Diaspora threw its weight behind ‘Aragalaya’ that facilitated the NPP bid at the presidential poll.

Responding to a spate of questions directed at the Rajapaksas over high profile corruption cases, Namal Rajapaksa challenged President Dissanayake to prove those allegations.

The ex-MP reminded that all allegations that had been repeated in the run-up to the general election next week were used against them since 2014/2015. “Anura Wijepala who now functions as Secretary to President Dissanayake, in fact, handled a committee that decided on the cases they investigated. They never found anything.”

Namal Rajapaksa said that he had repeatedly challenged the NPP to do whatever possible to expose the so-called corrupt deals perpetrated by them.

Contradictory statements that had been on the transferring of money from Sri Lanka to Uganda exposed the NPP, Namal Rajapaksa said, declaring that during President Dissanayake’s five-year term he would have to admit in Parliament that the war-winning President didn’t rob the country. “We are prepared to face no holds barred investigations. Prove if he has stashed away public funds overseas or here. You won’t find anything new,” Namal Rajapaksa said, warning the NPP that it couldn’t survive on the basis of continuing lies.