Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says that the government is attempting to pin the blame on him for the country’s current economic situation by saying the former government obtained excessive loans and that he is also being accused of taking secret loans. 

The UPFA Kurunegala District MP said he did “work” for the loans he took and that if he had taken secret loans and there are no records kept, then the incumbent government should refrain from paying back the loans. “Don’t pay it back. Then the problem is solved.”

He was addressing the public rally organized by the ‘Joint Opposition’ at Hyde Park in Colombo today (17). 

Rajapaksa said that he told his son Yoshitha, who is currently in remand custody on money laundering charges, that being imprisoned for 46 days is not a big deal as he was in prison for 3 months. “The difference is Yoshitha is not a politician.”

He stated that now they are attempting to arrest his eldest son Namal and that it doesn’t matter if the Hambantota District MP is in prisons 6 months as he is young. “He is still a young boy. It okay if he goes (to prison) a little and comes.”

“But if they think that I will leave politics because of this it is only a mirage. It will never happen.” The former President said that he will continue to engage in politics for the people of the country even if his entire family is put in prison and even if he is put in prison. 

Rajapaksa said that if he too had sought revenge from opponents he wouldn’t have been able to develop the country and bring it to its current position. 

“I too could have opened the closet. When that closet is opened and the contents are searched certain skeletons can also fall out. But i was not ready to do that,” he added.