He was speaking yesterday (01) at a rally at Lipton Circus following the joint opposition’s ‘Jana Satana’ protest march from Kandy to Colombo.

Rajapaksa accused his successor Maithripala Sirisena and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of running an authoritarian rule.

Intelligence report into participation

A state intelligence service report handed over to the president and the PM says between 4,000 and 5,000 persons had taken part in the march during its journey from Kiribathgoda to Peliyagoda.

As the march neared the SLFP headquarters at Darley Road, some of the participants had turned back, and between 9,000 and 9,200 had attended the rally at Lipton Circus, according to the report.