Back President, Matale Mayor to Muslims

M. R. Muttiah

Matale Mayor Hilmy Mohamed said the UNP could not find candidates to contest the Parliamentary Elections and called on all Muslims to strengthen President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s hands at the forthcoming Presidential Election.

He said he had known President Rajapaska for a long time. He said although his family and himself were involved in business they never left the UNP, but had to decide to support President Rajapaksa.

He called on the Muslims to strengthen the hands of the President.

The Mayor also said the UNP had gone to the level of the JVP.

He was speaking at a press conference under the banner Muslim solidarity with President Rajapaksa in Colombo yesterday. Presidential Advisor and Media Ombudsman Alhaj A.H.M. Azwer said most UNPers dissatisfied with the present leadership have left the party and will support President Rajapaksa at the Presidential Election.

Azwer said UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe never spoke in support of Palestinians.

Wickremesinghe asked the Muslim Parliamentarians and others not to speak about the struggle of the Palestine people. He did the same when the United States bombed mosques in Iraq. But President Rajapaksa always stood with the Palestine people, he said.

Azwer said President Rajapaksa provided land to the All Ceylon Jamaitul Islam. He said more than 10,000 Muslim activists had come forward to work for the President.

He added that many several senior Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil leaders like M.H. Mohamed, had left the party as there were no room for minorities in the UNP. Ranil Wickremesinghe had bowed down to western pressure and dollars, Kroner and sterling pounds pouring into UNF leaders’ hands, Azwar said.

Colombo Municipal Council Special Administrator Omar Khamil said President Rajapaksa wanted to improve the city. He added that Muslims were the largest population in the city.

President Rajapaksa handed over the city administration without considering his political background. He said the President’s guidance helped him to carry out the task. Khamil said the people of Colombo voted for politics since 1947 and now it had become essential to vote for an experienced politician, that is President Rajapaksa.

He said President Rajapaksa’s dynamic leadership ended the war.

Eastern Provincial Council Member Jawahar Sally said the people of the East had suffered much in the past. He said he had come from a former war zone. The Armed Forces lost in the Vadamarachchi battle as there was no political leadership. President Rajapaksa was an inspirer to the Forces, he said.

Senior UNP Members Al Haj M. Ashgar, S.H.M. Niyaz Rajab Yusoof, Marzook Ahmed, S.M. Yaseen, M.S.M. Zubair, S.M. Arif and United Lanka Muslim Alliance leader Mohamed Azhar also spoke.