President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is to lead a special series of National People’s Power (NPP) public rallies covering every district from September 5, Health and Mass Media Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said.
Speaking to the media in the Kalutara area, the minister said the rallies would run alongside a programme to reorganise the party’s electoral committees down to the Grama Niladhari Division level.
“We, as the National People’s Power, are reorganising electoral committees from the village and Grama Niladhari division levels,” Jayatissa said. “From September 5, large-scale public rallies will be held in districts under the leadership of the President.”
The minister framed the campaign as a direct challenge to the government’s opponents, calling on them to demonstrate public backing on the street rather than through closed-door meetings. He accused opposition figures of engaging in what he described as nightly conspiracies at the residence of former minister G.L. Peiris.
“We say that if there is public opinion against the government, prove it. That is all that needs to be done,” he said, urging critics to look at the campaigning the NPP itself carried out while in opposition.
Jayatissa also dismissed comparative claims by rival camps. “There is no point in saying that you have something more than Gotabaya Rajapaksa or Ranil Wickremesinghe, or that you have something more than this side or that side. Words are of no use,” he said.
Neither outlet reported which district will host the opening rally, how long the series will run, or whether the schedule is tied to any electoral timetable.
The announcement lands during a contested period for the government. Petitions challenging the constitutionality of the 22nd Amendment Bill have continued to mount before the Supreme Court, and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has also moved against the bill. Ministers have said a parliamentary debate on the amendment is expected in September or October.
A nationwide rally programme built around the President, paired with a rebuild of the party machinery at village level, points to the NPP seeking to convert its parliamentary majority into demonstrated street-level support ahead of that debate.
