PNM vows to thwart 'foreign attempt to divide' country [TamilNet, October 01, 2003 17:43 GMT]

The leader of the Patriotic National Movement (PNM), Venerable Elle Gunawanse Thera, addressing the public meeting held at the conclusion of the five-day anti-peace march Wednesday said that the majority Sinhalese people will not allow foreign elements now involved in the peace process to divide the country, sources said.

Ven Elle Gunawanse Thera further said Buddhist monks would sacrifice their lives to safeguard their mother country. "The UNF government used several non-governmental organizations to sabotage the protest march from Kandy to Colombo," the Thera charged. "However, the sabotage attempt was thwarted with the support of patriotic citizens."

Mr.Anura Bandaranaike, People's Alliance (PA) parliamentarian and brother of President Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, said Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe has laid the foundation stone for dividing the country by signing a ceasefire agreement with the LTTE.

"Allowing Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe to continue in power would bring irreparable disaster to the country," he stressed.

Sri Lankan Cricket star and PA parliamentarian, Arjuna Ranatunge, highly regarded writer and intellectual championing Sinhala nationalism, Dr. Gunadasa Amerasekara, JVP propaganda secretary and the party's parliamentary group leader Wimal Weerawanse, also addressed the meeting, sources said.