• Urges public to join to rectify errors 

Any Presidential candidate who wants to win the upcoming Presidential Election must have the support of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), claimed former President and incumbent SLPP Leader and Government Parliamentarian, attorney Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Speaking at the SLPP May Day rally held yesterday (1 May) at the Campbell ground in Borella, he said that the SLPP will announce its decision regarding the Presidential Poll when it is necessary and added that only the candidate who gets the SLPP’s support will win the Presidential Election. Claiming that he was the first Labour Minister to initiate a welfare scheme for working class people, he opined that almost all the other political groups were exploiting workers to get votes at elections. 

Rajapaksa also observed that previous Governments led by him and his Party worked to transform the workers’ lives into much better ones than they were, and that those programmes transformed the workers’ status into that of professionals. “Most political parties forget workers after the May Day. But, we never did so. When I became the Labour Minister, there was no welfare programme for workers. They didn’t even have a proper salary. I was the first one to introduce a welfare scheme for them. We did many programmes to transform them from workers to professionals. We always stood up and struggled with them to win their battles,” he noted. Claiming that the SLPP is the only Party to date with the capacity to build the country, he urged the public to gather around the SLPP and work to rectify its previous mistakes. “We are the only Party that can work for the betterment of this country. We accept that there were some mistakes. We took over a country that was almost bankrupt. But, we didn’t tell it to the public. We had to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. We managed to face every obstacle. I would say that only the candidate whom we support will win the upcoming Presidential Election. We will declare what our stance is when it is necessary,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking at the rally, Prime Minister and Mahajana Eksath Peramuna Leader Dinesh Gunawardena said that any country that works to achieve development goals cannot forget the contribution made by the working class people to a country’s economy. He also said that all the people who struggled for workers’ rights must be honoured, and that their efforts must be appreciated. Inviting all the working class people to get together to create a new political and economic order even in the midst of economic hardships, he also stated that the Government is committed to building a better future for workers where they can live a better life.