A country should have a leadership that springs from the roots of the indigenous people so that the feelings, ideals and aspirations of the people are reflected in the actions of its leaders. We have to understand that our country had been facing over a long period of time the attacks of a group of terrorists that threatened to divide this small country and enthrone fascism. But our previous leaders were cleverly deceived by the terrorist group that continued to carry on their bloody task for three decades with a degree of success until it was challenged during the present time. Now we could expect to end the threat of terrorists who have been hemmed in by the armed forces that had confined the group to a limited area after defeating them successfully as never before, the Ven Mahaelagmuwe Lankananda Nayake Thera also known as Kuswala Nayake Thera the well known member of the Buddhist clergy and indigenous physician who had cured a number of cancer patients with indigenous medicine says.

I am quite confident that President Mahinda Rajapakse was elected by the people to rid the country of terrorism and bring back peace by defeating the LTTE terrorists. During the last three decades I had seen the terrorist group deceiving four pervious Presidents and Prime Ministers, J.R.Jayawardene, R.Preamdasa, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Chandrika Kumaratunga except the late D.B.Wijetunga who was President only for a short time. But they could not deceive President Rajapakse, the Nayake Thera said.

In the near future in a matter of few months the terrorist group will be defeated and President Rajapakse should continue as the leader for as long as possible as he is the one who had led the country from hopelessness to hope among the people. There is no other choice before the people and I am sure he would continue to lead the country and usher in peace without yielding to terrorism as the other leaders had done, he observed.

Some people in the Opposition who are eyeing the main chair are alleging that the President had brought his two brothers to high positions in the government but a leader faced with a challenge like defeating a notoriously ruthless group of terrorists should have people who could be totally reliable and trustworthy to achieve that unenviable task. That is why he had chosen two efficient and trusted people to assist him as he could trust them and rely on them to help him to achieve the objectives he had, the Nayake Thera said

The war waged by the terrorist group had affected an area of 11,000 square kilometers when President Mahinda Rajapakse took office as the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Today it is confined to less than 4,000 square kilometers in the Vanni while the entire Eastern Province had been liberated by the valiant armed forces. It was the President’s leadership that had made this achievement possible. Therefore I came to believe that he is the best leader in our times, the Nayake Thera observed.

I have visited the Eastern Province after it was liberated from the terrorist group and was quite amazed to see the extensive development programmes implemented there by the government. The people of the East have gained very much and considerable number of roads bridges and infrastructure are in place. Therefore it was very clear to me that President Rajapakse had addressed the people’s problems and had worked for all the three ethnic groups Sinhalese Tamil and Muslim people of the province, he noted.

One must look back at the number of lives that were lost during the last three decades in the war as well as thousands who had were killed by the terrorists who had targeted civilians. If we consider the harm done by it I would say that our country had gone back by at least a century considering the large number of useful people who were killed and the damage done to public and private property. Therefore we have to defeat terrorism and once that was done the country would progress rapidly under the leadership of President Rajapakse he noted.

Now I would like to turn to the severe criticism leveled against the President that he had got his family members to high positions but a leader who had efficient and intelligent family members should make use of them for the development of the country and to win the war against terrorists. What is the harm in that? If they are trustworthy and if they are efficient in performing their assigned tasks why should they not hold such positions? What I believe is that the Opposition knows that the President will be successful in implementing the development policies as well as in his effort to wipe out terrorism and that was why the Opposition was harping on this matter, he observed.

According to our Constitution a President could hold office only for two terms of 6 years each but I feel that the Constitution should be amended as the President was fit to rule the country for a long time to come. That will come to pass as he is only leader from the South who had understood the national ethos and the thinking of the indigenous people and he would rule the country for a long time more, he said.

If we don’t achieve national pride and develop our nation after winning the war against terrorism now we will not achieve it as we will not have a leader like President Mahinda Rajapakse for a long time to come. I am not saying this because I want some favour from the President as I want no favours and I am an independent person who does not dabble in politics. But what I had seen with my own eyes tells me the position of our country he noted.

Some people were trying to destabilize the country and bring down the morale of the armed forces who are now at the last phase of the war on terrorism. I would like to say that the President should guard himself from such people more than from the terrorist group and he should protect himself from such people the Nayake Thera said.

Asked to comment about the position of indigenous medicine in the country today as an eminent indigenous physician he said indigenous medicine like all indigenous arts and sciences were suppressed by the British colonial rulers. The time had come after independence to revive the indigenous medicine and in 1956 the Pancha Maha Balavegaya. Sangha, Veda, Guru, Govi, Kamkaru came to the fore and an a department for indigenous medicine had been set up but later the results that could have been achieved were not pursued with vigour so that indigenous medicine was still not having its proper place in the country.