Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says that Sri Lankan’s in the South will have to obtain Visa’s in future to visit North and East if a United National Party (UNP) led government comes to power after the August 17 general election.
Addressing several meetings in the Puttalam district Rajapaksa charged that UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was planning to set up a government with the help of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which has plans to divide the country.
Rajapaksa said that fishermen in the Puttalam and Chilaw coastal belt will not be able to fish in the northern seas if Ranil becomes Prime Minister in a UNP led coalition.
The former President said that Wickremasinghe also had plans to rope in the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) if a UNP and TNA alliance fails to garner the required number of seats to form a government.
Election analysts have predicted that the TNA will obtain 15 – 18 seats and the JVP will get 12 – 15 seats in the 225 member parliament.
Meanwhile Rajapaksa also rubbished Wickremesinghe’s call for a National government and said this was an election gimmick to hood wink the people.
The former President went on to say that the TNA in its manifesto has reiterated its demand for a power sharing arrangement in a re-merged Northern and Eastern provinces under a federal structure as it existed earlier.
He added that however the real aim of the TNA was to set up a separate state joining the two provinces.
The TNA, in its manifesto says that the Tamil People are entitled to the right to self-determination and the Tamil Speaking Northern and Eastern provinces are the historical habitation of the Tamil People and the Tamil Speaking Peoples.
The manifesto states that the Tamil speaking Muslims in the North and East will not be affected in such a power-sharing arrangement in the North-East.
The manifesto has called for devolution of power on the basis of shared sovereignty over land, law and order, enforcement of the law so as to ensure the safety and security of the Tamil People, socio-economic development including inter-alia health, education, higher and vocational education, agriculture, fisheries, industries, livestock development, cultural affairs, mustering of resources, both domestic and foreign and fiscal powers.
Meanwhile former President Rajapaksa will make a special statement to the media tomorrow. However, his media unit has not made any clarifications on the subject matter of the former President’s statement.