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Rajitha declares 2017 a victorious year for govt

Health and Indigenous Medicine Minister Rajitha Senaratne on Monday said that the unity government could not be toppled by anyone and 2017 would be its victorious year and stressed the need to expedite the investigations into bribery, corruption, extra judicial killings.

He said the President had orderd the UNP backbenchers not to have any dealings with the Raajapaksas and asked them to find out who were those UNP MPs who had dealings with the Rajapaksas.

Senaratne was addressing his constituents at a meeting at his office in Kalutara.

Senaratne said "Racist political system completely ruined the country and this system is followed today as well. There is a category of people who call themselves intellectuals who are not patriotic and not concerned about the country."

The Minister said the racists wanted to gain power by hook or by crook be they Sinhala or Tamil and there were President’s Counsels who were like frogs in a well and they were ignorant about the laws governing the country but prepared draft bills.

Some express different ideas about the referendum, but the Opposition leader had said that the consent of the Sinhalese was required to solve the national question and it was a good proposition.

The media criticised the government, but the Right to Information Bill had been submitted and any one could obtain information about government institutions. He stressed the need for a national policy.

The minister assured that the state health services would not be privatised and would continue to provide free medical service, while the Magampura port and the Mattala Airport would be developed with Chinsese assistance with a Free Trade Zone of thousands of acres which would provide employment to many thousands.

He said poverty in Hambantota and Moneragala district would be eliminated and stressed the need to build oil tanks in the Hambantota port.

What the former President did was to declare open the name boards of the Hambantota Port and Mattala airport on his birthday with a massive publicity blitz, he said.