- Promotes village/city-level defence comms.
Opining that public security in the country has collapsed, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa vowed to establish a novel programme at the Local Government (LG) level to ensure public security.
He made this statement during the SJB’s May Day rally held yesterday (1 May) in Talawakele, where he said that the ongoing spate of organised criminal activities, especially murders, has posed a severe threat to public security. Premadasa pointed out that these crimes have spread throughout many contexts and to the point where they have affected the public’s day-to-day lives.
Claiming that the present Government has failed to take effective measures to maintain law and order, he said that murders, drug racketeers and thugs have taken the law into their own hands.
To address this situation, he said, a community- and public-centred and community-protective programme will be implemented through LG institutions, and that this programme will involve the contribution of law enforcement and defense forces as well as various institutions engaged in maintaining law and order. As part of this programme, ‘defence committees’ will be established in every village and city with the support of the public.
“As the Opposition, we will join hands with you and fulfil our duty to condemn those groups of murderers, robbers, and abusers, and to re-establish law and order,” he said.
Meanwhile, in his May Day message, Premadasa called on all working people to unite under one banner to defend and reclaim their rights, which he said continue to be undermined by the ongoing economic crisis.
His message further read: “The working people are the backbone of our economy. In light of current global economic trends, it is essential to reassess the rights and responsibilities of the working class from a new perspective. I believe that it is the inescapable duty of the trade union movement to educate and mobilise workers towards this goal. Workers have been both directly and indirectly impacted by the trade wars that have emerged in the global market. This presents a significant challenge that demands immediate and thoughtful solutions. In this context, we must break free from a mindset rooted in isolated poverty and strive to contribute meaningfully to global economic stability.”
He claimed that the current renaissance Government, which rose to power by leveraging the support of the working people through traditional politics, has now abandoned the very policies it endorsed, and promises it made to them.