Maithri’s final thrust to boost national security credentials

• Common opposition candidate vows to protect ‘unitary’ state
• Pledges to keep army in the North
• Urges Mahinda to allow a peaceful poll

Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena sought to boost his national security credentials on the final day of the 2015 presidential election campaign yesterday, with a pledge that his administration would not withdraw the army from the Northern Province or allow the LTTE to regroup. In an address to the nation last morning, Sirisena promised his administration would never alter the unitary status of the country. “I have no intention of removing the military from the North. National security will be my priority,” the opposition candidate told media personnel at his operations office in Colombo. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as the executive president that defeated the LTTE, is the stronger national security candidate in the tight race for the presidency this week. Sirisena’s assertions follow an intensified propaganda onslaught in the final week by the Rajapaksa campaign after both big Tamil and Muslim minority parties endorsed the opposition candidate for Thursday’s crucial poll. At the media appearance, Sirisena denied secret deals with the TNA or the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. The Opposition had only reached a consensus with both parties about Sirisena’s 100 day program for constitutional reform and re-democratisation, he said. “There is no question of dividing the country. I will never allow the LTTE to regroup,” Sirisena charged. He also urged his incumbent challenger President Rajapaksa to run an “ahimsa” campaign in the last 48 hours. “There are plans to create violent conditions in the country after campaigning ends at midnight,” Sirisena warned. “I urge President Rajapaksa not to do anything to destroy the peace and security of these elections,” he said. (DB)