Rally held to push for polls

• Sarath N Silva says people should be given chance to elect new Govt.  

By Nuwan Senarathna 

Former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva yesterday called for a general election to be held, insisting that polls would bring an end to what he termed as the current political turmoil in Sri Lanka. 

Silva made this call at a rally organised by the ‘Jathika Ekamuthuwa’ group loyal to MP Mahinda Rajapaksa in Maradana to call for a general election. Heavy traffic congestion was also reported in the surrounding areas due to the rally, which was held during rush hours of the day. 

Speaking at the rally, Silva said that a stable Government needed to be established to prevent negative results from such a situation, which Sri Lanka currently is experiencing.  “A country cannot function in an unstable situation like this. I have never experienced such a situation,” he added.

He noted that the public has been very patient during the current political turmoil, adding that according to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the public holds the mandate to appoint the Government of their choice and that needs to be respected by everyone. “Disenfranchising voters has been the biggest tragedy in this whole scenario,” he added. Speaking at the rally, Prof. Channa Jayasumana said that despite what he termed as the political crisis, the entire country continues peacefully, which has given a positive signal to the international community. “The English Cricket team came and played a full series without any incident, therefore we can say the country is functioning as usual.” He charged that if Mahinda Rajapaksa hadn’t accepted the Premier post, the country’s economy would have continued to decline.  “They were trying to pass a federal Constitution, which could have led to serious consequences,” he charged. 

Meanwhile, Major General Kamal Guneratne alleged that certain officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) were dishonest.

“Certain CID officers are dishonest and they arrested the highest ranked military officer Admiral Ravi Wijegunawardena and he is being kept in prison as a criminal. He actively contributed to defeat terrorism, which cannot be taken lightly,” he added.