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Meaningless rally, says Rajapaksa government

COLOMBO: On the eve of the first public rally of the newly- floated “National Congress’ here, the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government put a brave face declaring that it had no reason to be concerned over “meaningless rallies with narrow political objectives”.

The public show of the National Congress, an alliance of the United National Party (UNP) led by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the rebel Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) leader Mangala Samaraweera is seen as a test for the alliance to mobilise forces opposed to the policies of the Rajapaksa Government.

Despite the outwardly calm demonstrated by the campaign managers of the Government, there are enough indications of nervousness within the ruling party particularly after the former President, Chandrika Kumaratunge, blessed the venture after hitting out at the policies of the Rajapaksa regime. Chief Government Whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle claimed at a news conference here on Wednesday that the President who obtained a “great victory over the LTTE” is not going to lose sleep over such demonstrations. The ruling combine is portraying the alliance as a grouping of political elements jealous of the military successes.

However, the National Congress is trying to target the Government for its supposed lop-sided priorities especially excessive emphasis on military means and its inaction on the double digit inflation.

The Chief Whip said though the alliance has promised to gather almost half a million crowd at the protest rally they have opted for Hyde Park which cannot accommodate more than 5,000 persons. On the contrary, the alliance leaders have accused the Government of spreading false information about intrusion of Tiger suicide bombers into the capital to scare away those who intended to take part in the rally.

Separately, the dissident group within the UNP which joined the Rajapaksa Government in January questioned the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reached between the United National Party (UNP) and the Mahajana wing of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFPM). Dissident UNP member and Minister of Media Lakshman Yapa Abeywadana told a news conference here that the group had already legally challenged its validity. In another development, Director of the School of Science and Forensic Science and Pro-Chancellor of the National Law University, P. Chandra Sekharan, met Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama.

Prof. Chandra Sekharan, who was the chief forensic expert in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, discussed issues concerning forensic investigations, suicide bombings and the field of explosives, and the effects of terrorism.

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