National People’s Power (NPP) has ten scientific plans to build the country, says its leader Anura Dissanayake while addressing the Nawalapitiya Constituency Conference of the NPP.
He said, “It has been said for years that our country will be stuck in a debt trap in the future. But the people did not make any change. Even if we wanted to, that change did not happen. Now all the necessary factors for that change have been completed. Old political camps have been displaced. The founding party of the political movement known today as Pohottuwa is the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Those parties depend on a leader with personal magnetism who builds those parties. The party is built around him. Now, there is no personal magnetism. Last May, they tried to bring Basil Rajapaksa as a new leader. Neither the people nor the party accept him as the leader. The movement called Pohottuva is over today. Namal says Mahinda is the spiritual leader, but the leader for the moment is Ranil. On the other side, because of a big struggle in the United National Party, they said that they could not go with Ranil and that the winning leader would be Sajith. No one knew about Sajith Premadasa when he stepped on stage in 2019.
Now Sajith’s SJB party is no longer attractive to the people. Next, Ranil Wickramasinghe, who received the most votes in Sri Lanka in the 2015 general election, could not enter the parliament in 2020. Today, Ranil Wickramasinghe, who has no people’s power, has been appointed as the guardian angel of Pohottuwa.
Today, the NPP, with an open vision and organizational strength, has come to the fore for the transformation of Sri Lanka. In 2019, there were Rajapaksa and Sajith, but we were a small force. Even if we had the will and the courage, this transformation could not be carried out because those camps were powerful. However, for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka, both the parties that turned this country into a mess have been thrown aside, and the NPP has become stronger, and the people are embracing it. In the Nawalapitiya constituency, 27 out of 33 divisional councils have been established, and new leaderships have been introduced throughout the constituency. The NPP has become the hope of the Hindu and Muslim clergy as well. Tens of thousands of men who have retired from security forces, from retired military officers to the lowest soldier, are rallying with the NPP. Lawyers associations, engineering associations, university professors associations, farmers’ movements, and trade union movements are coming together, and we are achieving the political victories needed to transform this country.
For the last 75 years, the rulers of this country have carried out a scheme in the name of development in which the youth of this country are forced to leave the country. The people no longer accept the claims that those ruling groups that have bankrupted the country would restore the economy.
Those who thought that Ranil would save the country are now realizing that he will do nothing. Over the past 15 months, 4.5 billion dollars have been saved by not paying foreign debt. If the debt had been paid, there wouldn’t be any oil, gas or milk powder. Now the sale of milk powder has decreased by 53%, the sale of sugar by 40% and even a shortage of essential medicines has been created. The garment industry has collapsed by 28%, and the construction industry has been completely broken down. After saying that our country would be made a Singapore, Malaysia and a miracle of Asia have been made a country where are made to leave the country. The people understand the false economy created by the rulers of this country and are rallying for change. Also, the people who were afraid of the rulers took to the streets against injustice and drove out the rulers who were the biggest bullies. The people are standing up against injustice, and it is the best time to make the change everybody is craving for.
Army officers, police officers, administrative service officers, everyone is talking to us. They say that they would participate in making this change even if they have to wear the uniform. Therefore, Ranil Wickramasinghe is trying to prevent this change by not having the election. If there is an election, the NPP will win, so the election has been postponed due to fear. The NPP is ready to take to the streets and win this election.
Since the election was not held, they publicized that the constitution would be amended and a presidential election would be held. No matter what tricks they play or what propaganda they come out with, the presidential election will have to be held before the 17th of October next year. Most likely, the presidential election would be held on the first of October next year. If so, nominations should be accepted in the first week of August. We are prepared for that as well. NPP is also ready to win the LG elections. Even though Ranil Wickramasinghe tries to wrap up the election map following JR Jayawardene, Ranil can’t do that because JR was strong with five-sixth power when he did that. Today, Ranil is very weak, and the NPP is very strong. Therefore, the NPP is ready to win the democratic rights of the people of this country without allowing Ranil’s vanquished formula of postponing elections.
As long as Ranil is in power, all the national resources will be sold. Petroleum, electricity and everything will be sold. Ranil not only sells power plants, but also reservoirs. With all that he says, the country will be developed in 2048. Ranil was born in 1949. He will be 99 years old by 2048. He will not even be there to talk about the development of the country. By then, we, too, will be gone. For a long time, the people of this country have formed and overthrown governments. There has been no improvement.
For the first time in this country, we need to establish a government that brings peace and prosperity to the country and the people. To prevent that, Ranil Wickramasinghe is postponing elections. They are trying to bring anti-terror laws, media suppression laws, etc. Of course, media should be regulated. As they often come out with cock and bull stories, such as the snake from the ‘Naga Loka’. However, what Ranil is going to do is to stop reporting matters affecting the national economy. The government has taken loans from Commercial Banks, Central Bank, E.P.F., E.T.F. He wants to cut off the loans given to the government. The government has taken as loans 57% of Bank of Ceylon’s deposits, 37% of People’s Bank’s deposits, 65% of National Savings. Banks are at risk if these loans are cut. According to the new acts Ranil wants to adopt, if this situation is reported by media channels, the media channel will be banned. Under the guise of the national economy, the media will be suppressed. The people, too, will lose their right to information.
On the other hand, Ranil Wickramasinghe is trying to take away the right of the people to know about matters affecting national security, matters that would harm the country. They are trying to postpone the elections, introduce repressive laws, threaten the media. We assure you that Ranil Wickramasinghe’s media suppression law will not be passed in Parliament. When Ranil Wickramasinghe came to Parliament in 1977, Chandrika was nowhere. However, Chandrika became president, but Ranil Wickramasinghe had to sit on the lower chair of the Parliament and watch. Maithripala Sirisena did not even have a party when Ranil Wickramasinghe entered Parliament in 1977. Even though Maithripala went to the Parliament in 89 he became the President in 2015; Ranil Wickramasinghe just had to sit on a lower chair and wait. Gotabaya Rajapakse was not even in a local council. Even though Gotabaya became the President, Ranil Wickramasinghe, who had been waiting since 77, could not. After failing for 45 years since 77, he is now got a lucky chance to sit on the Presidential chair. He doesn’t want to get up from that chair now. We are sure that even if he is not prepared to do so, the people will come together and throw him out. Even if he tries to stay in power by various gimmicks, we will defeat him and his government and form a government of the NPP.
The country will be built by a government of the NPP. Rulers must make sacrifices to build the country. The people around the leader of the United National Party are maintained by the public money collected around the President. Ruwan Wijewardena, the deputy leader of the UNP, has been appointed an advisor to the President and is maintained by the government. Deputy leader Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has been made a presidential advisor and is maintained by the government. National organizer Sagala Ratnayake has been appointed the President’s counsel and is maintained by the government. Former Deputy Secretary Navin Dissanayake has been made the governor of Sabaragamuwa and is maintained by the government. The government maintains Ashu Marasinghe of the working committee as an advisor to the president.
All the front-row members of their party, up to Rosy, are maintained around Ranil Wickramasinghe, who is sitting in the presidential chair with public money. These people are given vehicles, fuel and other allowances. The Minister of Petroleum said that four trade union leaders of the Petroleum Corporation are provided with vehicles by the government. It was revealed in the COPE committee that the people who did Keheliya’s housework were paid by the Ministry of Mass Media. Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa are using a large amount of public wealth for maintenance by changing their official residences as they wish. The appointed ministers of the NPP will not have houses from the government. Light bills, water bills will not be paid by the government. NPP MPs will not be given vehicle permits. This country should be built according to the policies of the NPP, which makes sacrifices. Those who smuggle in gold bars, broke gold chains, guilty of murder, broke into prisons and threatened to murder have become MPs and ministers in parliament. Can people who engage in drug business, illegal soil cutting, fraud and corruption, who take over the lands of the population, build a country? To build this country, we need a disciplined movement – a movement with knowledge. Nawalapitiya should be saved from this hoodlum politics. For that, our Comrades Cyril, Thushari and others are more than capable.
To rule a country, we need people who treat the people’s pain as their own, have integrity and make sacrifices. The NPP represents a group that is capable, knowledgeable and civilized. It is a civilized group based on the knowledge and practice of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and IslamNPP is a movement that will work together and save this country from hooligans.
The Ambassador of the Netherlands met us recently in our office. Its population is 17 million, and there are 513 people per square kilometre. We have 343 in our country. But the Netherlands has taken second place in the world among the countries that export agricultural products. Rain comes there only during one season. There is snow during another season. Even though our country is sunny, with 103 rivers flowing from the central mountains and plenty of natural resources, rice and vegetables are brought from abroad. The Parakrama Samudra, built during the reign of King Parakramabahu, still exists today. Even today, the people worship King Mahasen, who built the Minneriya tank, as Minneriya God. King Vasabha, who built the first tank in our history, and King Dhatusena, who built Kala Tank, are still providing rice to the people today. But the present-day rulers even bring the seeds from abroad. When New Zealand is the second agricultural exporter in the world, we import rice from abroad.
To change this situation, we have unveiled 10 scientific plans for the development of agriculture, fisheries, tourism and industries. But how can a lawless country, where the political culture allows an MP to smuggle gold from Dubai and get a lenient punishment, move forward?
Do those at the top still need a separate law enforcement? The compensation that can be obtained from the burned ship is 10 billion dollars. We can get only 2.9 billion dollars in loans from the IMF. The Minister of Justice says that a bribe of 250 million dollars has been taken regarding the compensation. The biggest chemical damage in the world is being looted without getting the proper compensation. We have to change this situation and build a rule that applies the law to everyone. Only we in the NPP can have the ability and determination to build such a country where our future generations can be happy. Let us all come together and build this country.”
National Executive Members of NPP Lal Kantha, NPP executive member and Member of Parliament Dr Harini Amarasuriya, E.M. Basnayake, District Executive Member of NPP, Senior Performer Dipani Silva, Former Regional Assembly Member of JVP Tilak Sirisena representing Jananiamu Artists Organization also addressed the rally.
