Attorney-at-Law Manoj Gamage yesterday said that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the country’s fifth Executive President, has not yet received an invitation to attend the Victory Day celebrations scheduled to be held tomorrow.

Speaking to the media, Gamage questioned the decision to exclude Rajapaksa from the event, highlighting his role during the final phase of the war. He said the former President had not been officially informed or invited to participate in the commemoration ceremony.Gamage also rejected a statement allegedly made by Minister Upali Pannilage claiming that Rajapaksa had already been invited for the Victory Day celebrations.

“Until now, no kind of invitation has been received by the former President to attend the Victory Day celebrations by the NPP government,” Gamage said, urging the Minister not to mislead the public.

He further said that in previous years, official invitations had been sent either through the Presidential Secretariat or the Ministry of Defence.

“The Victory Day should be celebrated today (18), as it honors the military personnel who died during the civil war and marks the decisive end of the nearly 30-year conflict against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on May 18, 2009,” Gamage added.