By Shamindra Ferdinando
SLPP presidential candidate Namal Rajapaksa, MP, recently accused incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe of squandering public funds on politically motivated investigations targeting the Rajapaksas during his tenure as the yahapalana Premier.
Referring to high profile investigations that had been carried out during 2015-2019 period, the Hambanthota District parliamentarian declared that the government couldn’t find an iota of evidence to support their accusations.
Attorney-at-law Rajapaksa said so addressing a public rally organized at Naula in support of the SLPP presidential polls campaign. Lawmaker Rajapaksa questioned what he called wasting of public funds on spate of useless investigations and related judicial processes. The SLPPer ridiculed the yahapalana actions that achieved nothing while pointing out Wickremasinghe who spearheaded that dirty campaign was at the helm today.
Lawmaker Rajapaksa recalled the declaration made by the then Premier Wickremesinghe in parliament told how his government investigated accountants maintained by the Rajapaksas the world over.
The SLPP candidate said that the government looked for his Lamborghinis while investigating his mother Shiranthi for having a discarded helicopter at one of her pre-schools.
Law enforcement authorities had nothing else to do as the yahapalana leaders were hell-bent on going after the Rajapaksas, MP Rajapaksa said. Acknowledging that he had appeared before court during the 2024 presidential election campaign, MP Rajapaksa declared that they had been cleared by courts.
Pointing out that he too had an opportunity to switch sides the way many ministers did, MP Rajapaksa emphasised his determination to engage in what he called principled politics. “We’ll work with a view to rebuilding the country,” the former minister said.
Reiterating his commitment to create a clean political environment, lawmaker Rajapaksa promised that he would take tangible measures to ensure fraud and corruption, two issues that dominated the election platform were effectively dealt with. The presidential hopeful vowed to implement a transparent tender and procurement process at all levels while launching a special project to create two million jobs.The SLPP candidate also promised to protect the country’s unitary status while guaranteeing equal rights for all communities.
