Mahinda confident of Tamil vote

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has expressed confidence in securing Tamil votes at the Presidential election this week despite the Tamil National Alliance urging the Tamils to back opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena.

Speaking to the weekend newspapers, the President said that just because the TNA is not with the government for the election does not indicate that the people in the north are not with him. “We too have Tamil leaders such as Douglas Devananda. We have two SLFP members for the first time in Vanni. I get calls from Jaffna, Vanni, Mullaithivu, etc. By now we have laid the foundation to win their votes. We can see the people in the North are gradually getting closer to us. We observed it very clearly when the Yal Devi train began services to Jaffna. The response was very good. Our development is not limited to Colombo but to the other parts of the country as well. We have spent over Rs. 400 billion for the development of the North. We have provided facilities to the Northern people, which they did not have for the last 30 years,” The Sunday Leader quoted the President as saying. He said he was not a surprised at the decision taken by the TNA to back Sirisena and he felt that decision had been taken by the TNA a long time ago. “The TNA was not interested at all to bring about a political solution. They are waiting for the United States, India and Geneva to bring about a solution. Their sole objective is to somehow stay in politics. It reminds one of a beggar who does not want to cure his wound so that he could get more and more donation,” said the President, and added that the final decision on those matters such as political solutions had to be taken by Parliament. The President also said that terrorists in certain countries do pose a threat to Sri Lanka and for this reason the Government operates an intelligence unit in Omanthai, especially to minimize the threat resulting from the removal of restrictions by the European Union on the Tamil Diaspora. “Our Intelligence Unit is very efficient and we have received information through them. We will do the needful,” said the President. The President said that his Government’s main objectives beginning from 2015 are for a more disciplined and law abiding society and for a more developed and better country.