The 19th Amendment to the Constitution vests more executive power in the hands of the Prime Minister, and he will be his party’s next prime ministerial candidate, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed in an interview with the Veerakesari Tamil newspaper over the weekend.
Asked about the Gotabaya Rajapaksa being the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Presidential candidate, Opposition Leader Rajapaksa said that Gotabaya was one of five options he has in hand. “The best of these five will be announced at the convention on Sunday,” he added.
The former President also denied claims that Gotabaya would fail to grab Tamil and Muslim votes if he becomes Presidential candidate.
“Those are baseless claims. In fact, Tamil and Muslim people have no issues with Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
It was because of Gotabaya, the Tamil people live freely today. He has also helped the Muslim community. Therefore Tamils and Muslims should be happy about Gotabaya coming into mainstream politics” Mahinda Rajapaksa said in the interview.
He has also said that next President and Prime Minister should cooperate with each other to rule the country.
“The next President has to be a one who could ensure the security of our country; who could serve all communities of our society and who has realized people’s issues” the Opposition leader pointed out.
(Sunday Observer)