Sri Lankan PM vows to safeguard national security

Sri Lankan prime minister and leader of the ruling United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that the country should not fear over a resurgence of the Tamil Tiger rebels as its national security is thoroughly safeguarded.

Speaking at an election rally in the northwestern province of Kurunegala on Thursday evening, Wickremesinghe said that if his party wins the upcoming parliamentary elections, the country's national security would continue to be one if its main focus.

He further said that President Maithripala Sirisena would be the defense minister under a future UNP government.

Sri Lanka will face a parliamentary election on Aug. 17 to elect a new 225-member parliament and a majority to form a new government. Wickremesinghe himself is a candidate from the UNP who will be contesting the polls.

Speaking further at Wednesday's campaign, the prime minister blamed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for inciting racism by claiming that his party had signed a secret pact with the Tamil minority party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to divide the country between the minority Tamils and the Sinhalese majority.

Wickremesinghe's government who was appointed to power following Sirisena's victory at a presidential election in January has been criticized by the opposition who have alleged that his government had put the island's national security at risk by dismantling some High Security Zones in the north and east.

Former defense secretary and brother of Rajapaksa, Gotabaya Rajapaksa also recently warned that the country was at risk after a recent U.S. report claimed that despite its military defeat at the hands of the Sri Lankan government in 2009, the Tamil Tiger's international network of sympathizers and financial support still persists.