Non Cabinet Labour Minster
Mervyn Silva said only President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa deserved credit for the military victory, and that only these two names which would go down in history.
No one can call themselves number one in this victory. There is no way of saying that this one or that one did it. The heads of the armed forces and their troops were there for 30 years.
There were guns, there were bombs, we had naval capabilities and we had aerial capabilities, he said while delivering a speech in Dematagoda.
The minister said that the reason that the former chiefs of the armed forces were unable to achieve the military victory sooner was because the country did not have a leader with a strong backbone or a sound vision of the future.
It does not matter if we had had Welusumana, Nandimithra and the Dasamaha Yodhayo if we did not have king Dutugamunu to kill Elara. King Dutugamunu provided the leadership. Nobody can deny that, he said.
He noted that President Mahinda Rajapaksa`s foresight, bravery and patience helped the country to achieve the victory. He added that Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was a prominent figure during the battle of Vadamarachchi where they captured
Prabhakaran but had to release him on the orders of the then president.
History will record only the names of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and not the individual members of the armed forces, said Mr. Silva.
18 Oct 2009 00:49:41 GMT 
18 Oct 2009 01:32:09 GMT 
18 Oct 2009 04:05:47 GMT