The President also said he had never been stranded by any storms or had been left alone in his fight for his motherland. He said, the people who love this country walk hand in hand with him.

He was speaking at the Presidential Awards Ceremony of the Silver Jubilee of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo yesterday.He said he was swimming upstream when he emerged as the common candidate to run for the Presidential Election of January 5, 2015.

“The ongoing course of action to stand up against and to eliminate those powerful and dangerous forces that harm the country, is also a swim upstream in politics to defend the motherland,” he said.“I had only Presidency and my life to lose. Even it could mean either or both, I will gladly sacrifice them all for the sake of my country,” he said.

“Those who have taken me wrong and criticise me today will come to realise someday that I have taken the right course of action and as an upright and righteous leader,” the President said.“My fight is against those who try to betray this country. I fight against corruption, fraud, injustice, dictators, martinets and human rights violators and those who stand to betray the country,” the President said.