The Yahapalana Government has kept its word to uphold the rule of law in the country, Minister of Finance and Mass Media, Mangala Samaraweera told guests at the Platform for Freedom (Nidahase Wedikawa), last evening in Matara.
“We managed to reinstate the rule of law and democracy back in this country which was being diluted over the past decade while they were in power,” the Minister said. Speaking of the recent comments that sparked about a Nazi regime, the minister drew parallels to the previous government where incidents similar to that of the Hitler’s Nazi regime took place.
“Whenever the previous government didn’t have sufficient support they were in the practice of blackmailing and poaching people from parties that were opposed to them.
“This is the exact method in which Hitler operated as well. Once he managed to get a sufficient majority on his side, he ended up being a dictator who destroyed not only his country but created a big devastation in the world,” the Minister said.
Speaking of instances where the rule of law was not upheld, he went on remind the arbitrary procedure through which the former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranaike was ousted from her position overnight.
He went on to state that the path that was followed by the Rajapaksa regime was very much like Hitler’s governance.
“This is the exact trajectory in which the Rajapaksa regime was also taking. By bringing in the 18th Amendment he tried to stay in power for the remainder of his life,”
Minister Samaraweera was joined by Wickremabahu Karunarathne and Dambara Amila Thera spoke at the Platform for Freedom at Nupe, Matara, yesterday.
According to Dambara Amila Thera who was also a speaker at the event, the seminar was aimed at addressing the idea expressed in recent times that the next leader of the country should be a character such as Hitler. “We reminded the participants of atrocities carried out during his rule,” the Thera said while going on to question if it is such a leader that the country needs for its future.
“This system has no place in modern day society,” the monk pointed out. According to him, leaders need to rule countries while respecting human rights and working towards building reconciliation