Sri Lanka needs a true human being, not a king – Maithripala
January 11, 2015 03:43 pm
Newly-elected President Maithripala Sirisena today invited all political parties in parliament to unite in forming a national unity government.
“I invite all political parties in parliament to join the all-party government to create good governance and drive the country towards expected aspirations,” he said, delivering his first address to the nation.
He also pledged that the unlimited powers vested with the Executive Presidency will be transferred to the Parliament, Cabinet and Judiciary.
The President addressed the nation from the Paththirippuwa (the Octagon) of the Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic) in Kandy.
Sirisena stated that the first step of his new government would be to eradicate poverty from the country and also pledged to promote religious coexistence and communal harmony in the country by ensuring the freedom and rights of every religion.
He further said that the new government would take every measure to also eradicate corruption, fraud, irregularities and bribery within the country.
He added that: “The country needs a true human being, not a king” and vowed to serve as a true worker to the people.
President Sirisena also reiterated that he will not seek a second term as President in Sri Lanka, saying Friday’s poll was the first and last Presidential Election he would contest.
Prosecution To The Full Extent Of The Law
By Emil van der Poorten –January 11, 2015
Emil van der Poorten
I know the campaign of Maithripala Sirisena for the Presidency of Sri Lanka was based primarily on getting rid of that obscenity of modern governance in Sri Lanka, an Executive Presidency gone stark raving mad.
However, what emerged as the campaign progressed was a huge surge of anger and resentment about the massive corruption with which theRajapaksas had swamped the country and the fact that people realized that this was not something “out there” but something that had already proven to have major implications for every Banda and Biso and in which ocean of filth their progeny and the progeny of those progeny would surely drown if permitted to grow.
Yes, the implications of the wanton spending and lining of political nests with ermine of unbelievable value had become evident to every man and woman in Sri Lanka’s rural regions. And as Sir John Kotelawela and his UNP discovered in 1956, this could generate a political wave of Tsunami proportions. Yes, while it is the tenth anniversary of that terrible event hammering a large part of Sri Lanka’s coastline, this political tsunami promises to wreak havoc even more widely in our island nation, from its beaches to its highest mountains. The difference, though, is that it is a benign storm.Read More
