MR ready to scrap presidency if Eelam project is dropped 

October 12, 2014, 10:17 pm

If the Tamil National Alliance and the Tamil Diaspora gave up the eelam and separatist ideology, before anyone else he would be the first person to scrap the executive presidential system, President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared in Killinochchi yesterday.

Addressing a ceremony to hand over 20,000 title deeds at the Killinochchi Central College grounds, the President said due to thirty years of terrorism not only lives lost were but also places of residence had been lost. The people had been forced to pawn their gold jewellery with LTTE banks.

"Because of this terror how many of your relatives and friends lost their lives? How much property was lost? We put an end to terror and now you can live as free men and women, President Rajapaksa said.

He said it should never be forgotten that the war the country fought to put an end to LTTE terror had not been against the Tamil people. " It was to protect your lives, your children’s lives and the lives of the unborn."

"By wiping out terrorism on May 19, 2009 we were able to give the people everywhere, be it in the North or the South, the right to live without fear or suspicion. People may have forgotten this fact by now but you knew the challenges we faced. You all were in welfare centres and were without your property", the President said, adding that he was happy that the government had been able to help them rebuild their lives.