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Ultimatum to LTTE:
Free civilians or face ban
Rohan Mathes
President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday issued a stern warning to the
LTTE urging the terror outfit to release civilians held captive as
‘human shields’ before the dawn of the New Year or be ready to be banned
and wiped out from the face of this earth.
An emotionally moved President Rajapaksa was addressing a gathering
of religious dignitaries, intellectuals, professionals, politicians,
artistes and others at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo
yesterday.
“There is only one enemy in the country. UNP or SLFP or JVP are not
enemies. We have only differences of opinion. The common enemy is
terrorism.”
“I well understand my duty, the daunting challenges ahead and my
responsibilities towards our motherland. We have beyond any reasonable
doubt, proved by our behaviour and actions that we are honest and true
to our motherland and its people.
The dawn of peace and ushering a united Sri Lanka is my sole aim and
responsibility. “I need to free my motherland and the innocent Vanni
civilians from the bondage of the LTTE. I need to protect my land, not
for any political gain or popularity. That goal seems not too far away
now,” the President asserted. He pointed out that there could be diverse
conspiracies as apparent alreadyto cause political instability and
unrest and disrupt the victories of the gallant war heroes.
“There could be attempts to block the free flow of valuable foreign
exchange and other revenues by stifling the GSP+ facility,” he pointed
out. “We cannot adhere to some decisions. We also rule out a ‘Ceasefire’
sans a ‘Lay -down of Arms’, by the LTTE,” he stressed. “A victorious
‘War-Hero Year of 2009’ is also the fourth year of our Government which
would undoubtedly be very crucial and decisive.
It would be totally free from terrorism. I invite all patriotic
citizens of the country, irrespective of their party affiliations, to
rally round our Government and support it to defeat all conspiracies. We
should not become traitors or puppets who are controlled by strings from
overseas,” he added.
President Rajapaksa underscored the importance of a holistic,
integrated approach to a host of multi-faceted issues in the country.
He was of the view that certain economic issues such as taxes for
fuel, could not be analysed in isolation. For good governance, there
should be a close rapport and a sound mutual understanding between the
Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary. “We should work in a just
manner, within the legal framework of the country. We cannot compete
with each other.
We must work together in unison. We will also not budge an inch from
the law of the land,” he added. He noted that there have been instances
when the Government confronted crisis situations. Nevertheless, they
faced them without running away. “We refrained from taking ad-hoc
decisions.
We sought all available options and adopted an all encompassing
approach to resolve them.
We are in no way opposed to the decisions of the judiciary.
Nonetheless, at a time when the terrorists are being defeated in all its
fronts, we should be alert and cautious,” he warned.
There has been multi-faceted, mega development projects undertaken in
all districts of the country, ranging from highways, ports, airports,
power plants, irrigation schemes, to overhead bridges among others.
Thousands of employment opportunities have been generated.
The President further said that even though he personally would like
to bring down the prices, or even offer goods free of charge, it was not
pragmatic when managing the economy of a country.
“Taxes are also required to manage an economy. Indicators such as the
exchange rates, inflation, only do not reflect the true economic
situation of a country. These indicators have their own characteristic
merits and demerits. We must manage them in a prudent manner in which we
could obtain the optimum advantages and results.”
President Rajapaksa appealed to the nation to work together with new
energy and enthusiasm to achieve the common goals in the New Year 2009.
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