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"As my dear friend Rajiva Wijesinha would recall, I have, even at my most acerbically critical of the policies, ideological doctrine, structures, policy process and personalities of Govt and State, always and explicitly exempted Mahinda Rajapaksa from that critique, except for his sins of omission. As such I have never advocated the defeat/removal of Mahinda Rajapaksa and would have done so only if it represented a step forward, which would have been the case ONLY with a Sajith-Karu ticket (i.e. with Sajith or Karu as candidate, and the other as PM). At no time would I have thought positively or charitably of a post-Mahinda dispensation in which the dominant personalities were Ranil and CBK. I regard such a prospect as a dangerously reactionary retrogression."via: https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/state-nation-hero-a-clarification-on-rajivas-observations/