MR Addresses Parliament For First Time As Kurunegala MP

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday accused the government of “hastily” releasing “hard core terrorists” without regard to the nation’s security due to political pressure from certain interested quarters.

The Kurunegala District UPFA MP was delivering a speech in Parliament for the first time since being elected at the General Election in August.

He stated that after the LTTE was defeated in 2009 there were about four attempts of varying severity by separatist terrorists to regroup in the North but due to the “vigilance” of his government they were able to “nip all those attempts in the bud.”

“I see now that this vigilance no longer exists,” he declared.

My government rehabilitated and released over 11,000 LTTE cadres and retained in custody only those considered to be dangerous to the community, he said.

“The present government has been hastily releasing hard core terrorists without regard to the nation’s security due to political pressure from certain interested quarters.”

“While dangerous LTTE detainees are being released, the Prevention of Terrorism Act is being used to imprison members of the military,” he charged.

He stressed that the PTA was enacted to deal with terrorism and not to detain members of the armed forces.

Rajapaksa also slammed the current administration’s “ill-conceived” foreign policy, which he claims is based on “bending over backwards” to please certain foreign governments which are in turn influenced in their policy towards Sri Lanka by various Tamil Diaspora organisations which can deliver votes at elections in those countries.

The ex-President called upon the government not to place the nation’s security in jeopardy over “petty political considerations” and due to their “antipathy” towards him and the government he led.