National People’s Power (NPP) presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (03) challenged independent presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe to prove the latter’s claim that ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had invited the NPP prior to his forced departure to form a government in mid-2022 amidst mass protests.
Addressing a political rally in Bandarawela, Dissanayake said Wickremesinghe had held only a handful of political rallies.
“In all these rallies, he insists that Gotabaya Rajapaksa invited the NPP to establish a government in mid-2022 and that we refused to accept the challenge. No one in their right mind would believe that the Rajapaksas and their hangers on will help the NPP to gain power in the country. I urge Wickremesinghe to stop repeating this lie or prove that Gotabaya invited us to form a government,” the NPP leader said.
Wickremesinghe was trying to scare people by convincing them that if he lost the election there would be gas shortages.
“Ranil says that an NPP government will destroy the country’s economy? Ranil and his gang have destroyed the economy.
“We have over 100 billion dollars in debt and Ranil has no plan to repay it. Countries are hesitant to give us visas. Most young people can’t find jobs and have to migrate. Agriculture has collapsed. Businesses are going bankrupt. We ill rebuild the country soon,” he said.
(RK)
