NOVANEWS
When a dictator asks the oppressed to trust him (welcome to Sri Lanka)
Posted: 02 Apr 2010 08:13 PM PDT
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday promised voters in the minority Tamil city of Jaffna a role in solving their own problems in his second visit since the end of a three-decade civil war in May.
Voters in Jaffna and other Tamil areas roundly rejected Rajapaksa, who led Sri Lanka’s victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and their 25-year-separatist war, at a presidential poll in January at which he secured a second six-year term.
The president’s United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) is campaigning for parliamentary polls on April 8, at which Rajapaksa hopes to secure a two-thirds majority to give him the votes to change the constitution to his liking.
“We should get rid of the ethnic thinking and should not be racists,” Rajapaksa said. “We will be able to solve the issues in the north through the people’s participation councils by giving the opportunity to the people to address issues by themselves.”
Rajapaksa was addressing a small crowd in the stadium in Jaffna, at the Indian Ocean island’s northernmost tip. Although the president’s party is expected to secure a majority in parliament, he is unlikely get many Tamil votes.
“Let’s have a bright future,” he said. “Trust me as I trust you.”
They don’t trust him and nor should they.
See:www.antonylowenstein.com