"In the forthcoming presidential poll, the responsibility of safeguarding democracy has fallen on the public. During the past 40 years we led Paada Yatra, Jana Ghosha and Human chain protests and agitations to protect democracy and human rights”, he said.

“At a recent public meeting in Kandy, the UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had repeated seven times that my family should be struck by thunder. Was he asking thunder to strike my family because I gave one of my sons to the Armed Forces to defeat the LTTE?,” the President queried.

We have to remind you that a secret agreement to divide the country was signed and we abrogated that agreement and worked hard to save the country,” President Rajapaksa said. “During the past four years a large number of development programmes were implemented by the Government including power, irrigation, infrastructure, ports and airports,” he said. “We did not stop development nor did we go lax on the war front,” the President said.

President Rajapaksa said there were prophets of doom who said there will be power cuts by 2009. But there are no power cuts today or tomorrow as we have planned ahead with a number of new power stations to meet the future demand of electricity.

The road network had been vastly improved and we would continue development at a rapid pace in the future too,” he said.