Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that the country being able to control the COVID-19 outbreak successfully is an achievement made possible due to the correct political leadership provided by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In a statement today, he said, Sri Lanka did not have significant experience in combating diseases such as SARS or MERS.  Prime Minister Rajapaksa said, other countries like Vietnam and Hong Kong had prior experience in controlling it but Sri Lanka was able to control it despite no prior experience. He said, present government has proven that they are capable of prevailing over insurmountable odds. The country has seen just over a dozen COVID cases during this week and all of them are from navy cluster or foreign returnees.<br />''  Criticising the opposition and former government, Mr. Rajapaksa stated that the forthcoming parliamentary election will give the voters an opportunity to choose them and complete the transition since victory of Gotabaya at the Presidential elections last year. The Prime Minister requested all candidates to be mindful of the election-related guidelines issued by the health authorities and to conduct an environmentally friendly and exemplary election campaign.<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">        Sri Lanka will hold parliamentary elections on 5th of August to elect 225 representatives.</span><br />