President Ranil Wickramasinghe has asked Mr. Sajith Premadasa and Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake to withdraw from the presidential race and sit on either side of his platform and support him to become president.
“Where was Sajith Premadasa when the people were suffering like this? Where was Anura Kumara? If the sufferings of the people were to be alleviated, they could have taken government power at that time. When the government leaves, the first opposition leader has a duty to take over the government. The 2nd opposition has a duty to accept if the first opposition refuses. Where were you? Today we are talking about the suffering of the people. I am asking where was Sajith when the gas cylinder was Rs. 4800? Where was Anura when the gas cylinder was Rs.4900? In our old left parlance, ‘Mewata Uththara Deepiyo’, if you can’t answer this, don’t ask for votes, come and sit on both sides of this platform. Now the Litro gas cylinder has reduced by 1200. Laugfs gas decreased by Rs. 2170. So, is it any wonder that I take the gas cylinder as my voting symbol? There is no better one. Those who thought it was possible were here when the other leaders ran away saying it was not possible. There are people from all parties of colours blue and green here.
He made the request at the first ‘Puluwan Sri Lanka’ election rally held in Anuradhapura on Saturday.
President Wickremesinghe stated in his speech that the country’s economy was not built by leaders like Sajith Premadasa, Anura Dissanayake, Harsha de Silva, or Sunil Handunnetthi. He emphasized that the significant economic progress in 2022 and 2023 was due to his government’s provision of adequate fertilizers that enabled farmers to reap successful harvests.
