Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan said the President can and will solve the national question.
Addressing a gathering at his alma mater St. Patrick’s College in Jaffna in the presence of President Maithripala Sirisena called on the president to offer a solution to the national question, a mandate upon which the Tamil people had voted him into power for.
‘We want a statesman who can rise up and bring an amicable solution within the context of a united, indivisible and undivided country for the sake of amity between its people,” he said. “You must overcome whatever impediments that stands in your way to become that statesman who resolved the national issue.”
“The country cannot go on like this, it has bled enough,” he told a gathering.
“If all citizens of this country want to live peacefully together, we need to solve the national question. President, we know you can do it, we know that you want to do it.”
The Opposition Leader referred to the President’s efforts to solve the national question, stating that the Tamil people were aware of his efforts as well the impediments that stand in his way.
Sampanthan tracing Sri Lanka fraught history battling colonial powers cited that it when the 1972 Constitution failed to accommodate the minimum demands put forward by the Tamil people, that these marginalized citizens began their demand for separation, after which the separatist war ensued.
“I make this request to you in Jaffna and at my school, St. Patrick’s College, to bring about a lasting solution to the national question. A mandate upon which the Tamil people voted you into power for and gave you unstinted support.”
The Opposition Leader also called on the diaspora to invest in Sri Lanka, in particular small and medium enterprises that are wholly Sri Lankan. “Invest in your country, support small and medium scale enterprises that are trying to make it big, not just in the North and East but throughout the country.”