Tuesday, 20 November 2007

Speaking in the Parliament yesterday (19) at the Budget debate the leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) also the Minister of Social Welfare, Douglas Devananda said that the ultimate goal to the crisis is the political freedom which can be achieved through a mechanism of power devolution.
Clarifying the perception that the war expenditure has gone up, Minister Devananda said that those who are criticizing the defence expenditure has done nothing towards a peaceful solution to the country.

“They are talking in support of the terrorism of LTTE leader Prabhakaran. They have become agents of the LTTE. They are talking without any remedy to the issue. The MPs who have become agents of the LTTE declare war against the Government,” he said.

Speaking about the facts that led the Government to fight against the provoking military activities of the LTTE, he said “The LTTE created an environment that pushed the Government towards war. They engaged in activities to provoke Security Forces and the Police who were maintaining law and order. The LTTE unilaterally unleashed violations against the Security Forces.”

Minister said that over 6,000 ceasefire violations have been committed against the Security Forces by the LTTE.

“It was the expectation of the LTTE that Mahinda Rajapaksa would declare war after becoming the President. But instead of doing that President extended his hands of peace to the LTTE. Without war there is no existence for the LTTE leader Prabhakaran,” Minister added.

Courtesy - Government Information