President Mahinda Rajapaksa today called on
the LTTE that to release all innocent Tamils
it is holding hostage, in bondage and using
them as human shields, with the dawn of
2009, and allow them to come to the safe
areas provided for them by the Government
and the Security Forces.
Failure to do this would lead the Government
to proscribing the LTTE with all its
consequences for the terrorist organization
and will ensure that 2009 is the true Year
of Heroism for the troops and also see the
wiping out of LTTE terrorism from the pages
of history.
He said the only enemy faced by the people
is the terrorism of LTTE, and that he will
not agree to any ceasefire that will
strengthen the LTTE in any form.
President Rajapaksa was addressing religious
dignitaries, ministers, senior
administrators and leading members of the
private sector to thank them for the
cooperation extended to the government in
this year and to inform them of the progress
of the military operations against the
terrorism of the LTTE and state of the
economy of the country. The meeting was held
at the Presidential Secretariat, Colombo.
There is only one enemy in the country, and
that is terrorism. The Sinhala people are
not the enemies of the Tamils, as the Tamils
are not the enemy of the Sinhalese.
Separatism and terror is the enemy of all,
be they Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims or
Buddhists; Hindus, Christians and followers
of Islam. All people should come together in
unity to fight the savagery of terrorism.
He told the audience that the people of the
country had given him and the government the
strength top fight terrorism, and bring the
LTTE to the weak position it is in today;
the strength to free the motherland from the
grip of terror.
“I will not agree to any ceasefire that will
strengthen the LTTE in any form” he said.
“The New Year 2009 will be the fourth year
with the country under my leadership. There
will be very decisive challenges in 2009, to
face which there will be the need for the
widest unity among all people. 2009 will be
the year when the country will be freed from
the menace of tiger terrorism. Many evil
forces will conspire to prevent the victory
against terrorism, but we shall overcome
them all. There will be many attempts to
create division, crisis and unrest in the
country, all of which are targeted at
helping the cause of tiger terror. Attempts
will be made to create a negative public
mood in the battle against terror. But, we
will face the biggest challenges and
obstacles to make 2009 the Year of Heroic
Victory against Terrorism,” the President
said.
He called on all political parties and
forces to unite with the government to
defeat terrorism and take the country
towards development. This is the message as
to the NFF that voted with the government in
the last budget, to the JVP that helped me
in the victory in the last presidential
election and to all patriotic sections
within the UNP, too, who should preserve the
honour and dignity of their party by joining
the government in the great patriotic tasks
that lay ahead.
Fuel prices
Referring top the prevailing debate on fuel
prices and economic policy, President
Rajapaksa said the Government had to act
with responsibility, and its responsibility
was to the people. The Government needed
revenue to meet the demands of development
and the costs of the ongoing military
operations to defeat terrorism.
It was from revenue that the government
earned that it was possible to give free
books to schoolchildren, provide healthy
services to the people, milk food to mothers
and children and also carry on the necessary
operations to free the country of terrorism.
Any decisions on the prices of essential
items had to be taken with responsibility
and concern for the actual needs of the
people. The needs of a mere 04 per cent of
people who use petrol for cars could not
supersede the needs of more than 90 % of the
people who traveled by bus and train.
He said that those who petitioned the courts
on the price of petrol were the same people
who campaigned abroad against the extension
of the GST+ relief for the country. If they
had succeeded in that, all workers in the
garment industry would have suffered.
President Rajapaksa said that the government
always respected the orders of the courts,
even when they went against some of the
policies that were being implemented to
combat terrorism. These orders such as the
ban on searching homes at night, and issues
involving High Security Zones were observed
with due respect to the courts and as there
were alternate policies to be followed,
despite adverse consequences, some of which
were tragic.
He said the government was committed to
reducing prices of essentials we when they
went down in the international markets, and
this was clearly seen in the reduction of
the prices of petrol diesel, kerosene and
other fuels in the recent budget. However,
as much as the government benefits from the
reduction in prices of such imports one had
also to be aware of the loss the country
faces with the drop in prices earned by
commodities exported from the country, due
to the prevailing condition s in the world.
The issue of taxation and duties should not
be looked at in isolation, but as a whole,
taking into consideration the needs of the
entire economy. There was the need to raise
duties on the import of many items to help
local industry and production to benefit.
Speaking in lighter vein, he said some
people may today seek relief in court
against the 300 % duty on cigarettes and
arrack, the 450% duty on whisky or the 500 %
duty on imported luxury cars.
President Rajapaksa stressed that that the
function of good government required proper
understanding among the Legislature, the
Executive and the Judiciary. The Executive
should not try to grab the powers of the
Legislature, and likewise the other arms of
government should also not seek to grab the
powers of any other. He was fully conscious
of the responsibility of the government to
the people, and all decisions that affect
the people would be taken ion all honesty to
discharge that sacred responsibility that he
bore.
President's address was preceded by
presentations by Air Marshal Donald Perera,
Chief of Staff on the current military
operations and by Ajith Nevard Cabral,
Governor of Central Bank on Sri Lanka and
global financial crisis.
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