GOVT’S ACTIONS, OPPOSITION’S DUTIES SHOULD CHANGE

The partners of the national government should give up their struggle for power while the ruling coalition and the Opposition should end competing for supremacy The President said the concept of a ‘national government’ is something which the people of this country were not familiar with

“If the political allies in the government should act similar to Vajji rulers as Buddha preached, we should also follow the course of action of the Vajji,” he said.

The President said the partners of the national government should give up their struggle for power while the ruling coalition and the Opposition should end competing for supremacy and in a joint effort contribute to overcoming the challenges which the country is facing today. “The situation which the county is in today does not warrant political parties to determine their political strength as it is actually a time when a collective effort has to be made to overcome the challenges faced by us as a nation,” he said.“partners of the national government should give up their struggle for power while the opposition and the ruling coalition should stop competing for power as such confrontational politics will result in people losing their expectations.”

The President said the concept of a ‘national government’ is something which the people of this country were not familiar with.“criticisms against the concept of a national government were many during the recent times,” he said.

The President introduced fifteen objectives which he identified as criteria for fulfilling the people’s expectations and these included economic development, eradicating corruption, creating employment opportunities for the youth, ensuring job satisfaction for public servants, ensuring the dignity and respect of security forces and the police, ensuring law and order, safeguarding human rights, democracy and freedom of expression in the society, ensuring equal rights to the Tamil community, ensuring the well-being of Muslims and to help them safeguard their future, ensuring the social and economic status of the upcountry Tamil community, safeguarding the culture and heritage of the majority Sinhalese and thereby ensuring the national identity of the nation, preserving the environment, ensuring sustainable development, ensuring the respect and safety of the clergy belonging to all religions and overcoming confrontational politics in order to ensure development of the nation.

He said structural changes were needed to fulfil these objectives and highlighted the fact that the government was fully aware of the criticism and the allegations that were made against it while it was engaged in a process of self-criticism.

The President assured that a continuous feed-back process would be put in place, on the progress of achieving the government’s defined goals and said the country should focus on its territorial safety as well.

“Sri Lanka should focus on the challenges it has to face when it comes to security, because of its geographical location,” he said.