This was stated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the mammoth May Day rally at Campbell Park in Colombo yesterday which saw a massive sea of people gathering in Colombo to express their solidarity with the government and political analysts described this gathering as biggest ever gathering of people for any rally in the history of Sri Lanka. The procession that started from the Nelumpokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Performance Theatre took 8 hours to pass a single point. Transport authorities said that the people arrived in more than 1750 busses to attend the rally.
Speaking further the President said that it was possible to defeat the 30 years of terrorism because of the patience endured by the working masses who remained committed giving priority to the defeat of terrorism instead of focusing attention for their grievances and shortcomings, while the opposition groups covertly and overtly aided and assisted terrorism.
The President said that when the then UNP government killed the children and youth of this country they took to the streets against these moves to save the lives of youths. He said that those who became victims of these massacres have forgotten this dark chapter of this country and they are holding May Day rallies in some other places.
He said that this government is not a government suppressing the working masses and the people as the then UNP government and added that the people of this country have the democratic rights of criticizing the government and its activities. He said that this government has never resorted to assault the people using cinnamon poles as it was done by the then UNP government.
The President said that after successfully defeating terrorism the government focused its full attention on developing the country and removing all injustices that had been caused to the working masses.
He said that the public service cadre was drastically slashed to 300,00 personnel by the then UNP government by sending them on retirement and this government has increased public service cadre to more than 1.4 million persons. The President reminded that from 2002 to 2004 UNP government did not provide any employment in the Public Service. He said that this government has given more than 10,000 jobs to Graduates alone.
The President said the difference between his party and the UNP is that his is committed to uphold the rights of the people while the UNP is trying to destroy the achievements made by the country in the field of development.
He said that that the UNP which cannot digest this country being developed are attempting to find faults on development projects and reverse the development activities in the country and pointed out that a handful of UNP parliamentarians are visiting the South to reverse the development drive of the government. He said that when the Hambantota Harbour was declared they criticized it by saying that there are rocks in the bottom of the harbor and they would make it a swimming pool when they come to power and similarly the General Secretary of the United National Party publicly stated that they would close down the Mattala Airport and make it a Museum.
The President said various political parties representing various communities are in the UPFA government and they are committed to developing the country while protecting the ideologies and policies of such parties. He said the government led by him has always solved the issues of Trade Unions through discussions.
The President also said that this government stopped selling government assets, ensured the rights of the working masses and brought peace to the country while protecting all norms and practices of democracy. He said that the working masses of the country have been receiving relief at every budget from 2005.
The President said that it is only under the progressive governments led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party that concessions and due recognition have been given to working masses and called upon the working masses to rally round the government to defeat all forms foreign pressure against the country. (niz)
