“Despite what we say or do, at the end of the day we are all like crabs dancing in a boiling pot of water,” stated President Maithripala Sirisena as he added that it is his experiences during the previous two months as the President that created him recognize the true nature of politics.
“I have had the opportunity to meet the Indian Prime Minister, the British PM and the Queen of England. Those meetings created me recognize that there are a lot of challenges that Sri Lanka has to face and we can not do it alone,” he mentioned addressing a meeting organized for the SLFP electoral organizers earlier this week (17.03.2015) in Colombo.
The President, in a very powerful and emotional speech criticized particular aggressive and racist statements made by some SLFP MPs in public rallies and to the media as he described them as ‘primitive statements’ and warned them to stop Sri Lanka from being pushed into yet another war.
“It was PM Bandaranaike that showed us that it’s impossible to establish a government only via Sinhala Buddhist votes. In this country, the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities all have to come with each other – without such unity this country can not be taken forward, there will be no future for this country, please comprehend that,” he mentioned.
The President addressed specific factions of the SLFP who have started openly challenging and criticizing him and said, “You all have created various statements about me but none commended the deferral of the OISL report which was achieved following my election. I can say for sure the deferral of the report was granted due to my election as the President. If that report had been tabled in March, it is the extremely men and women you campaign for and hold in high regard that would fall into difficulty…”
President Sirisena went on to state that because it was upon the invitation of the former SLFP Chairman and the celebration members that he assumed duties as the SLFP chairman, he must be allowed to fulfill his duties.
“This is not a position that a single can come into by force or coercion. Throughout the previous two months I have brought about democracy into the celebration and simply because of that, many are freely making statements and for the first time, has began difficult the Chairman of the celebration. Although I observe the freedom of speech as a positive improvement I also urge you all to enable me to continue my perform,” he mentioned.
Meanwhile, speaking of the upcoming elections, the President said the SLFP need to cast aside primitive slogans that stir racial hatred and sideline particular communities and adopt a slogan that fits the celebration and ensures the well becoming of the country and its individuals.
Watch the full speech