The statement made by UNP Chief Organizer MP John Amaratunga that the government is attempting to undermine the May Day rally organized in Jaffna by UNP Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe cannot be believed, UNP Southern Provincial Council member Maithree Gunaratne stated.

He said that if there is such an attempt by the government he is totally against it but felt that the government is more in favour of Ranil Wickremasinghe’s UNP faction than opposed to it.

Speaking at a press conference held in Colombo today (April 18), he said that the government had even gone so far as to suddenly carpet the road in front of the Sirikotha building on the day that the UNP reformist group, to which Gunaratne belongs to, had organized a Sathyagraha.

Gunaratne accused the Opposition Leader of threatening the party’s organizers in order to get as many loyalists to join in the Jaffna May Day rally.

He claimed that there may be an effort to move the rally away from Jaffna citing government pressure because it is already evident that the UNP supporters will not be attending the Jaffna rally. These suspicions were made greater he said when MP Amaratunga had told a local newspaper that his personal security personnel had expressed their concerned about the security situation in Jaffna.

He added that a strong opposition was needed to stop the government’s corruption and that it was unfortunate that the opposition was deteriorating to such a degree.

It is for this reason that the reformist UNP group will commemorate the death of President Ranasinghe Premadasa on May 1 while condemning any effort to hold a May Day rally in Jaffna together with the LTTE supporters and the Tamil Diaspora.