{"id":42503,"date":"2015-08-05T16:31:56","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T20:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=42503"},"modified":"2015-08-05T16:31:56","modified_gmt":"2015-08-05T20:31:56","slug":"chandrika-kumaratunga-indirectly-urges-supporters-to-protect-the-jan-8-revolution-by-voting-against-the-counter-revolution-of-mahinda-rajapaksa-on-aug-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=42503","title":{"rendered":"Chandrika Kumaratunga Indirectly Urges Supporters to Protect the Jan 8 Revolution by Voting Against the Counter Revolution of Mahinda Rajapaksa on Aug 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday cast her lot against her party\u2019s candidate and presidential successor Mahinda Rajapaksa, indirectly urging Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) supporters to vote against him at the 17 August election.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Breaking her silence three weeks into the parliamentary election campaign, which has been marked by Rajapaksa\u2019s reentry, former President Kumaratunga hinted at extensive soul searching ahead of her blazing criticism of the former President\u2019s candidacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter profound contemplation, it is my conclusion that in order to protect the party, we must first rebuild the country,\u201d Kumaratunga said in a four-page statement, entitled \u2018The forthcoming election and the future of the country\u2019.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cSafeguarding the 8 January victory is essential,\u201d President Kumaratunga said.<\/p>\n

In her clarion call, the former President said that forces attempting to destroy the golden opportunity to rebuild the country must be defeated at the forthcoming poll.<\/p>\n

Addressing SLFP supporters directly, the former President said there was a crucial decision facing the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill we side with the group that is seeking to destroy our party\u2019s noble policies and ruin the country once again, or will we work with the group working towards the country\u2019s victory and has the vision and dedication to make it happen?\u201d Kumaratunga asks in her poignant statement.<\/p>\n

Kumaratunga appealed to all SLFP supporters to cast aside cast and creed differences to protect the freedoms won on 8 January.<\/p>\n

The former President said her commitment to the SLFP remained unchanged. \u201cPrecisely for this reason, I am eternally committed to strengthening our party\u2019s pure policies and establishing a civilised Government through such reform.<\/p>\n

Kumaratunga said she was disappointed with SLFP seniors. \u201cI am upset that seniors in the SLFP don\u2019t seem to want to reform the party. It shows their own state of ruin,\u201d she said in the statement.<\/p>\n

The former President said she had watched her presidential successor ruining the SLFP and the country with increasing distress in her retirement. It had forced her to join the movement for change in January, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made a decision to join hands with the forces that were fighting to restore people friendly, clean governance to a country that had been turned into a playground for a single family and their best cronies, that were abusing state power and resources in criminal ways,\u201d President Kumaratunga said.<\/p>\n

The former President said that the entire country had been fortunate enough to enjoy the fruits of good governance following the victory of 8 January. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the citizens\u2019 misfortune that the defeated ruler was waiting in the wings to stage an ugly counterrevolution,\u201d Kumaratunga said.<\/p>\n

She said the new Government had made significant strides in restoring democracy and the rule of law and combating corruption in the country. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily FT<\/em><\/p>\n

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Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday cast her lot against her party\u2019s candidate and presidential successor Mahinda Rajapaksa, indirectly urging Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) supporters to vote against him at the 17 August election. Breaking her silence three weeks into the parliamentary election campaign, which has been marked by Rajapaksa\u2019s reentry, former President Kumaratunga hinted …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Chandrika Kumaratunga Indirectly Urges Supporters to Protect the Jan 8 Revolution by Voting Against the Counter Revolution of Mahinda Rajapaksa on Aug 17’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42503"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42503"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42504,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42503\/revisions\/42504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}