Addressing a gathering of activists yesterday (20), he said that the government who was elected on 08 January, 2015 is moving away from the political agenda through which they came into power and that this was demonstrated by the recent attack on the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) members opposite the Presidential Secretariat.

"The President and Prime Minister are both evading this problem. It seems as if the government is taking tuition from former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa about suppressing dissent," he said.

Tennakoon said that the people of this country voted for the government because they want to reinstate democracy. The people came together to defeat the Rajapaksa regime because they were acting in a suppressing manner and because they wanted broader democratic freedom. The people did not strive to bring more freedom to only those who stood by them, he added.

He further said that the issue regarding Gunaratnam is not a legal issue that can be solved in court; it is a matter of political will of the government that the case is a litmus test for the legitimacy of the government.