Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, the member of the National Executive Committee of the National People’s Power (NPP), emphasizes that getting power to NPP is a necessary victory for the country and the people.
He emphasized this while addressing a press conference held at the JVP head office at Pelawatta yesterday (11th).
Wasantha Samarasinghe, the Member of the National Executive Committee of the NPP, was also present at the press conference.
Dr Jayatissa said, “We need to announce our position on attempts of various parties to postpone the elections, and on the slanders, some groups are throwing at the National People’s Power (NPP). Even though the Election Commission has fixed the date for the local government elections, the people are still uncertain about this. From the point of view of democracy, if the people are left with uncertainty after the election has been announced, it is not a positive sign for the country’s future. Elections are an opportunity to declare the sovereignty of the people. People have been preparing for the election for a long time. However, they are uncertain about the election being carried out. The Election Commission has sent a letter to the Minister of Finance to provide the relevant money. The letter has been forwarded by the Finance Ministry Secretary to the Finance Minister. The President is the finance minister. It is a fact that not only the people of the country but also the people of the world know that President Ranil Wickremesinghe is working to prevent this election from taking place. The Cabinet, led by him, took a decision to stop accepting bail money. It has now been revealed that the process was carried out based on a decision taken by the Cabinet. The decision taken in this way had been carried to the Cabinet Secretary, who had informed the Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration and all the district secretaries. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is the Minister of Finance, is the head of the Cabinet that took that decision.
On another occasion, the Election Commissioner was called to the Presidential Secretariat for a discussion. Before they left the place, an announcement was issued stating there was no agreement between the Election Commission officials and, therefore, the election could not be held. And the President came to the parliament and jokingly declared that there was no election to be postponed. It is in such a situation that the letter sent by the Election Commissioner is forwarded to the President by the Finance Ministry Secretary. This is like asking for a clue from the thief himself.
Why are the members of the ruling party and some of the opposition so interested in postponing this election? There was no such situation in our history. Elections were held even during very difficult times like the Covid pandemic. There were no police protection issues, fuel issues, or electricity issues at all. They are trying so hard to prevent this local government election because the result of this election is not favourable for them. This is the first time that power will be transferred from the ruling elite to the common people. They know that the transfer of power that begins with this election will continue to the national elections. Therefore, everything possible is being done to prevent the election from being held.
Now, as the latest action, they deliberately try to prevent the people’s victory by slandering the NPP, distorting the news based on distorted statements and half-truths. A journalist named Chamara Sampath has written in a newspaper that “NPP has spent three billion for the small election”. We in the NPP completely reject this scandalous news. This is clearly false. We request him to calculate this three billion and write it down correctly. At this time, the Election Commission has presented the expenditure limit that one candidate should spend. Accordingly, it is possible to implement the election law and abolish the positions of MPs.
They are slinging mud at the NPP without taking any such action. These people have won the elections so far by distorting people’s opinion, by distributing goods, by distributing money, by deceiving the people. We will certainly change this political culture under a NPP government., We will create the laws and political culture necessary for any candidate to come to power democratically, by presenting his service to the people and obtaining the consent of the people. These rulers know that their existence will be abolished. That is why these baseless accusations are being made.
JVP A newspaper has published that former JVP MPs got a pension of Rs. 240 million in 13 years. At the moment, the General Secretary of the Parliament has submitted a list of MPs who are currently entitled to pensions. The names of 266 people representing various parties have been mentioned in it. Out of those 266 people, the pensions of eleven people representing the NPP are credited to our common fund. In the budget two years ago, the finance minister representing this government brought a proposal to the parliament that the MP’s pension would be given in ten years instead of five years. Did that budget plan become a law? What happened to the controversial proposal? The NPP has clearly given a promise to the people that under its government, the pension of all these politicians will be completely abolished. Those who sling mud at us know that we will act on them. So, they are afraid. Because of this, they are making lies and trying to distort people’s opinion.
Yesterday, a minister tried to use parliamentary privilege to create another scandal. He made an allegation of extortion by influencing individual private institutions. We request him to come out of the parliament and present that accusation. Who took the names of those agencies? Could you submit the details of how it was taken? The court has proved that the chief organizer of the ruling party, who leads the particular minister’s party, is an extortionist. The Colombo High Court ruled on July 8 that the chief organizer of the ruling party, Minister Prasanna Ranatunga, had taken a ransom of Rs. 25 million and threatened a businessman to collect the rest of the extortion amounting to Rs. 64 million. He was given a two-year suspended prison sentence and fined 25 million rupees. On the day the judgment was announced, the President’s lawyer, who appeared for Prasanna Ranatunga, said, “Please consider my client, the minister, sympathetically and reduce the sentence”. He said Prasanna Ranatunga is sick, his daughter, who is of marriageable age, is suffering from mental distress, and because he is a minister, investors do not come to the country and requested that the sentence be reduced. The minister, who’s party’s main organizer is an extortionist, is using parliamentary privileges to accuse our members of the NPP baselessly. We request you to prove this if possible. Why is the turmoil? Immediately after the election, the people will put the NPP in power. Those who engage in wasteful politics know very well that by using that power, this extortion, corrupt and wasteful politics will be ended under our government. We request the media of this country to use the media to prevent the crooked efforts of these groups to prevent a victory for the people. This victory is necessary for the country and the people.”
