by Zacki Jabbar

The non-implementation of the Supreme Court directive on resolving the Z-score issue had led to chaos and uncertainty in the lives of students, UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya said.

Those who had passed the last GCE A/L examination were being kept in suspense about university admission, while the Education and Higher Education Ministers were making hilarious and contradictory statements from time to time, exposing their inability to comprehend the seriousness of the issue at hand, Jayasuriya told a  news conference in Colombo on Wednesday.

The students had been compelled to institute legal action, Jayasuriya said, adding that the government should at least now stop bellowing rhetoric and take steps to safeguard the interests of the younger generation.

The rule of law had deteriorated to the extent of a child watching a recent procession being abused by the police. Young females and children were being raped, criminals were on the loose, robberies and murders were on the rise. But, the official reply was that there was nothing to worry about as the economy was booming. The vast majority of people were undergoing untold suffering, Jayasuriya noted.

Having failed to fulfil its election pledges the Rajapaksa regime was trying to grab depressed UNPers, he said. "We should set aside our differences for the moment and unite to defeat the UPFA government at the forthcoming Provincial Council polls. I have been invited by some of our candidates to campaign on their behalf and will work hard to make the UNP a victorious party," he said.