Addressing a group of Muslim ladies in Colombo, Muzammil said that the President had previously told the Institute of Chartered Accountants that the country had been ruined by corruption since the existing laws were not being properly enforced.

Muzammil said by his own admission the President has declared that Bribery, Corruption and waste was rampant in this country. But if he acted according to the law of the country, he did not need to introduce new laws. "All what he has to do is to implement the existing laws. However I am very sure that he is unable to do so because he had even ignored some judgments delivered by the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court.

"One such instance is when the Supreme Court found fault with P. B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Treasury, for having acted corruptly abusing his power as the then Chairman of PERC in the privatisation of Lanka Marine Services Ltd. The Supreme Court likewise castigated P. B. Jayasundera for the privatisation of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd. The Supreme Court handed back these valuable State properties to the State and President Rajapaksa happily accepted same. The Court directed the IGP-CID, Attorney General and the Bribery Commission to investigate and take action under the criminal laws. Whilst the investigations were on, the President re-appointed P. B. Jayasundera as Secretary to the Treasury when he had previously resigned after the Supreme Court Judgment on Lanka Marine Services Ltd. Ordinary public servants are interdicted or suspended when inquiries are held on mere allegations and not even on the Supreme Court Judgments. But not so in the case of his blue eyed boy P. B. Jayasundera. Why?

Even this was done only after the former Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva resigned. Clearly President Rajapaksa was frightened of the former Chief Justice to act in such cowardly manner. By doing so President Rajapaksa told the Supreme Court to go to hell, and the IGP, CID, Attorney General and the Bribery Commission that there was no purpose in taking action against defrauding of public property in spite of the Supreme Court judgement. Not only that, like the village thug that he is, he appointed Milinda Moragoda who had carried out the Lanka Marine Services Ltd., and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd., privatisation as Minister in charge of PERC. The Supreme Court had severely castigated Milinda Moragoda. What did President Rajapaksa do? He told the Supreme Court to go to hell and appointed Milinda Moragoda as the Minister of Justice, and the Supreme Court Judges were compelled to accept him as the Minister of Justice, though being investigated for fraud and corruption on the basis of their own Judgments. The Attorney General who directs the CID to investigate, comes directly under the Minister of Justice, and also the High Court Judges. How will they ever prosecute the Minister of Justice Milinda Moragoda? This is how President Rajapaksa protected the fraudulent and the corrupt. Now he says he want to fight fraud and corruption purely to get the votes.

Muzammil said the President is playing another card to hoodwink the country by saying that the common candidate General Sarath Fonseka had entered into an agreement with the TNA to merge the Northern and the Eastern provinces hitherto de-merged by an order of the Supreme Court. President Rajapaksa had forgotten that he got the then Attorney General to oppose the de-merger in the Supreme Court case. The Supreme Court rejected President Rajapaksas objection and then Chief Justice Sarath Silva directed that the North and East be de-merged. The President had in fact signed the gazette allowing the merger to remain whenever he wanted to extend the state of emergency. The President is desperate that he is losing ground as far as the minority vote is concerned. His aim now is to whip up communal hatred among the communities and attract the Sinhala vote.

You must understand that the two provinces were merged under emergency by the then President J. R. Jayewardene, as a temporary measure in accordance with the Indo-Lanka agreement. It remained merged during the periods of Presidents, Kumaratunga and Rajapaksa’s as well until the Supreme Court moved to de-merge it on an application by the JVP.

Hence Muzammil said that it is unfair to charge that General Sarath Fonseka is trying to change the status quo without any basis. The TNA promised to support the opposition looking at the progress report of the Rajapaksa regime during the last 4 years with regard to democracy, law and order. They were convinced that the Rajapaksa regime was heading towards dictatorial tendencies. They were convinced by the documented assurances publicly given by General Sarath Fonseka for the people in the North and East by way of immediate relief for their grievances.