Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Tissa Kuttiarachchi claimed there is a conspiracy to assassinate former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and that threats form the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were still present despite their defeat in 2009, as this months polls draw closer.
The lawmaker, speaking at a rally in Hiriyale, claimed that although the LTTE was militarily defeated, the threat is not completely over.
Kuttiarachchi warned the crowd that withdrawing Rajapaksa’s security or forcing him out of his official residence after the election could expose him to a genuine assassination threat.
He claimed there had been an earlier plan to kill Rajapaksa during an attack on the Prime Minister's Office during the 2022 Aragalaya protests, stating that Rajapaksa's life was spared only because he was taken to the Trincomalee Naval Base.
Rajapaksa oversaw the 2009 Tamil genocide which defeated the LTTE and saw tens of thousands of Tamils massacred.
Kuttiarachchi’s remarks come as part of a repeated pattern by Sinhala nationalist politicians in raising the spectre of Tamil nationalism to whip up Sinhala votes.
Meanwhile, the Director of Military Intelligence, Brigadier Chandika Mahathanthila, has filed a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) against a YouTuber who made alarming claims about a plot to incite unrest before the presidential polls on September 21. Mahathanthila informed the CID that the YouTuber in question claimed to possess evidence of either an assassination attempt or widespread unrest before or after the election.
The YouTuber, Ajith Dharmapala, a former police officer now living abroad, runs a channel where he has repeatedly discussed this topic. Dharmapala alleges that, beginning on September 12, at least 200 officers from Sri Lanka’s military intelligence corps would be involved in instigating unrest.
Mahathanthila has accused him of spreading false information intended to undermine the morale and effectiveness of the military for political reasons.
This week monitors from the People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said Sri Lanka has seen a spike in election related violence ahead of the presidential polls.
