Connect with us

News

Prez wants PC polls held soon

Published

on

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has directed the relevant parties to take steps to expedite the process of conducting the Provincial Council elections.

Currently, the Provincial Councils function without representatives elected by the people. The President emphasises the need to make people aware of this situation and pave the way for holding the elections immediately, the President’s Office has said.

The President made these comments at a meeting with the Provincial Council Forum representing the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna at the Presidential Secretariat on March 12.

President Rajapaksa said the decisions taken during the past 15 months aimed at realising policies of the party and promises made to the people while prioritising national, internal and security interests of the country.

Given below are excerpts of the statement from the President’s Office: “Every time a nationalist government came into power, hostile local and foreign forces attempted to effect regime change. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration was defeated by misleading the public with false propaganda. It is vital to understand how catastrophic were the setbacks suffered by the country in the last five years. The people of this country remember how the Buddhist monks and war heroes were harassed and intimidated in the recent past.

These forces have become active again in an attempt to sabotage the government’s policies and their implementation. The President emphasized the importance of educating the public about the consequences they will have to suffer if they were to be deceived by these falsehoods.

The government had carried out a smooth operation in eradicating underworld activities and the drug menace while ensuring national security. A concrete foundation for an employment generating and agriculture-based economy has already been laid.

Opposition expresses mixed opinions on the Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Easter Sunday attacks. Steps were taken to continue the operations of the Commission with the consent and confidence of His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith. The Report, which was handed over on 1st of February to the President, was presented to the Cabinet and Parliament within 28 days. But the Opposition is attempting to spread falsehoods claiming that the government is trying to hide the Commission’s Report. All the details in the report, except for the matters concerning national security have been made public.

The MCC agreement, which caused a great deal of controversy, has been withdrawn. Sri Lanka withdrew from the co-sponsorship of the Geneva Human Rights Council resolution on reconciliation, accountability and the promotion of human rights in the country which could result in a major blow to war veterans and the country’s sovereignty. Nobody notices those achievements which benefited Motherland within such a short period of time after coming to power. Despite these odds, the President said that he was committed to the betterment of the country in accordance with the promises and policies placed before the people.”

 

 

 



Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

Stay on course and don’t go back to the past – Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy

Published

on

By

Former Governor of the Central Bank delivering the keynote address at a high profile Webinar hosted by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka today (24)  said that Sri Lanka must implement the structural reforms proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without relaxing like in the past or else we will be in a deeper economic mess.

The webinar was titled ‘What is next for Sri Lanka in the wake of the IMF programme’

Continue Reading

News

Sustainable economic development goals cannot be achieved unless attention is paid to mitigating climate change – Sagala Ratnayake

Published

on

By

President’s Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff  Sagala Ratnayake said sustainable economic development goals cannot be accomplished without taking steps to mitigate climate change.

He said this while participating in the 10,000 sapling planting program organized by the LEO Youth Vision 2048 Club and the LEO Club at the Royal College, Colombo on Thursday (23rd).

This program was organized in view of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s birthday, which is today (24), and the required plants were distributed to the main schools of the Colombo District.

Continue Reading

News

SF claims thousands of police and military personnel leaving

Published

on

By Saman Indrajith

Thousands of police and military personnel had left the services recently as they did not want to carry out illegal orders, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament yesterday. According to the war-winning army commander 200 policemen have resigned during the past two months and 25,000 soldiers have left the army during the last two years.

“We urged the law enforcement and military officials not to follow illegal orders. We will reinstate them with back pay,” he said.

Fonseka also urged the President and the government MPs not to take people for fools.

“Sri Lanka owes 55 billion dollars to the world. Ranil’s plan is to borrow another seven billion during the next four years. So, in four years we will owe 62 billion to the world.

Ranil and his ministers ask us what the alternative to borrowing is. These are the people who destroyed the economy and society. They must leave. Then, we will find an alternative and develop the country,” he said, adding that the IMF loans had made crises in other nations worse.

“Ranil says that by 2025, we will have a budget surplus as in Japan, Germany and South Korea. These countries are economic power houses, and this comparison is ludicrous.”

Continue Reading

Trending