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පිරිපුන් ළමා පරපුරක් තැනීම දීප්තිමත් අනාගතයක අඩිතාලමයි - ළමා දින පණිවිඩයෙන් ජනපති කියයි

ළමයිනට පැහැබර හෙට දිනක් උදාකර දීමට මවුපියන් ඇතුළු සමස්ත වැඩිහිටි ප්‍රජාවම ළමයින් පිළිබඳව සංවේදී හා සුබවාදී චින්තනයකින් යුතුවීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය කරුණක් වන්නේ යැයි ජාත්‍යන්තර ළමා දිනය වෙනුවෙන් පණිවිඩයක් නිකුත් කරමින් ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා පවසයි.

එවැනි චින්තනයකින් හෙබි සමාජයකින් ළමයිනට මුහුණ දීමට සිදුවන සැහැසිකම් හිංසනයන් හා අයිතිවාසිකම් කඩවීම් අවම වනු ඇතැයි ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා සිය ළමා දින පණිවිඩයෙන් අවධාරණය කරයි. එම පණිවිඩය මෙසේය.

රටක දීප්තිමත් අනාගතයකට තැබෙන පළමු අඩිතාලම වන්නේ පිරිපුන් ළමා පරපුරක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමයි. එම වගකීම මනාව හඳුනාගෙන ඇති වත්මන් රජය නූපන් දරුවාගේ පටන් ඔහු ඉපදී වැඩිහිටියෙකු බවට පත්වීම දක්වා කායික, මානසික, අධ්‍යාත්මික හා පෞරුෂ සංවර්ධනයත්, ආරක්‍ෂාව හා රැකවරණය තහවුරු කිරීමටත් අන් කවරදාකටවත් වඩා පියවර ගෙන ඇත.

දිවයිනේ සියලු පළාත්වල දරුවන්ගේ පෝෂණ, අධ්‍යාපන හා සෞඛ්‍ය තත්ත්වයන් නගාසිටුවීමටත් ඔවුන්ට අවශ්‍ය රැකවරණය සලසා දෙමින් ඔවුන්ගේ පවුල් සවිබල ගැන්වීමටත් මෙම රජය විසින් අති විශාල ආයෝජනයක් කර තිබේ. මෙහිදී අපගේ ආදර්ශ පාඨය “හොඳම දේ දරුවන්ට” යන්න ය.

ළමයින්ට පැහැබර හෙට දිනක් උදාකර දීමට දෙමාපියන් ඇතුළු සමස්ත වැඩිහිටි ප්‍රජාවම ළමුන් පිළිබඳ සංවේදී හා සුබවාදී චින්තනයකින් යුතුවීම අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය බව මම දැඩි ලෙස විශ්වාස කරමි. එවැනි චින්තනයකින් හෙබි සමාජයකින් ළමයින්ට මුහුණ දීමට සිදුවන සැහැසිකම්, හිංසනයන් හා අයිතිවාසිකම් කඩවීම් අවම වනු නොඅනුමානය.

අපි මේ වන විට විශාල වශයෙන් තාප හා ජල විදුලි බලාගාර, අධිවේගී හා නවීන මංමාවත් අති විශාල වරායන් හා ජාත්‍යන්තර මට්ටමේ ගුවන් තොටුපළවල් මෙන් ම සුවිශාල වාරිමාර්ග ව්‍යාපෘති සාර්ථකව නිමකර වේගවත් සංවර්ධනයකට ප්‍රවිශ්ට වී සිටින්නෙමු. ඒ අතර ම නවීන ලෝකයට ඔබින දේශීය චින්තනයෙන් හෙබි ළමා පරපුරක් ජනිත කිරීම සඳහා අධ්‍යාපනයේ, තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණයේ හා අනෙකුත් කුසලතා වර්ධන ක්ෂේත්‍රයන්හි ගුණාත්මක හා ප්‍රමාණාත්මක ඉදිරි පියවර රැසක් ගෙන තිබීම ද ජාතියක් වශයෙන් අප ලැබූ ජයග්‍රහණයන් වේ.

ලෝකයේ කිසිම බලවේගයක් ඉදිරියේ පසුනොබසින අන් කිසිම ජාතියකට දෙවැනි නොවන ලොව බලවත් ජාතියක් ලෙස වැජඹෙන්නට අපේ ශ්‍රී ලාංකික දරු පරපුරට සියලු මංපෙත් විවර කර දීම වැඩිහිටි අප සියලු දෙනා සතු පරම යුග මෙහෙවර වන්නේ ය. එවිට “ළමා ලොවම එළිය වෙන්න – හැම දෑතෙම සවිය දෙන්න” යන මෙවර ළමා ලෝක දින තේමා පාඨය යථාර්ථයක් බවට පත්වනු නිසැකය.

30 month imprisonment on Sarath Fonseka confirmed

The Convening Offficer of the Court Martial 11 Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Confirming Authority on Wednesday (29) confirmed the accused G.S.C Fonseka be sentenced for 30 months rigorous Imprisonment imposed by the Court Martial that probed the accuser’s involvement in purchasing of military equipment deviating from the tender procedure on four separate counts, while on active service.
Mr. Lakshman Hulugalle, Director General for National Security Media Centre said that the accused was charged in accordance with provisions in the Army Act under Section 109 (e) on disgraceful conduct.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa speech of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa speech of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Mr. President

Excellencies

I have great pleasure in congratulating Your Excellency Joseph Deiss, on your assumption of the Chair of the sixty fifth Session of the General Assembly.

I also take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to the President of the sixty fourth Session, His Excellency Dr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, for his effective stewardship of the General Assembly.

Mr. President, Excellencies,

That the United Nations is now in its sixty fifth year serves to underline the durability of this organisation. It is an important mechanism in ensuring co-operation between States and a forum for discussion between sovereign nations. We must never under-estimate the importance of this organisation based as it is, on the principle of equal treatment of countries big and small.

It is in this spirit that I address you at a crucial juncture in the history of my own country. In two months, I will be assuming office for my second term.

My mandate will be very different from my last. For my second term as President, my promise to my people, is to deliver sustainable peace and prosperity to all and ensure that terrorism will not be able to raise its ugly head again.

In 2005, I was elected by my people on a promise to rid my country of the menace of terrorism. I say that Sri Lanka is now at peace, peace that was only a dream a few years ago.

Over the past year, much has been reported and much has been said regarding my country’s liberation from terrorism. However, far less has been said of the suffering we had to undergo and the true nature of the enemy we have overcome.

The rapidly forgotten truth is that we had to face one of the most brutal, highly organised, well funded and effective terrorist organisations, that could even spread its tentacles to other countries.

Many of the atrocities of terrorism that the West has come to experience in recent times, the people of Sri Lanka were themselves the victims of, for nearly 30 years, losing almost one hundred thousand lives, among them being a President of Sri Lanka, a visionary leader of India and scores of intellectuals and politicians.

The LTTE was an organisation so brutal, that even those it claimed to represent, the Tamil community of Sri Lanka, were as much victims of its terror as the rest of the population of our country.

Those who observing from afar, suggested that the Sri Lankan government should have conceded to the demands of the terrorists, need to be reminded that terror is terror, whatever mask it wears and however it is packaged. To all those, I say this. My responsibility is to the entire nation. My responsibility is to the lives of millions of men, women and children, and those yet to be born. My responsibility is to the peace and prosperity of the nation and the right to a peaceful life for all who live there.

In this context, it is worth examining the capacity of current international humanitarian law to meet contemporary needs. It must be remembered that such law evolved essentially in response to conflicts waged by the forces of legally constituted States, and not terrorist groups. The asymmetrical nature of conflicts initiated by non-state actors gives rise to serious problems which need to be considered in earnest by the international community.

As we close a sad chapter in our country’s history, I would like to remind you that we, along with many others, made repeated attempts to engage the LTTE in constructive dialogue. I still believe dialogue is the best method to resolve any conflict but, it is much to be regretted that all these attempts were rejected with reckless arrogance and contempt. It is in these circumstances that we were compelled to mount a humanitarian operation with the blessings of many international friends, to neutralise acts of terrorism and restore peace and security.

Excellencies,

The entire focus of our nation, is now on building a lasting peace; healing wounds, ensuring economic prosperity and guaranteeing the rights of the whole nation to live in harmony. We are mindful that in order to fulfil these aspirations, economic development and political reconciliation must go hand in hand. Towards this end, constitutional changes which appropriately reflect aspirations of our people will be evolved with the full participation of all stakeholders.

We are pursuing a nation-wide agenda of renewal. Sri Lanka has already returned over 90% of the internally displaced persons to their original villages that were previously riddled with landmines, and provided the essential infrastructure necessary to resume normal life. We have helped bring back the vitality of youth to former child soldiers.

We have rebuilt the Eastern Province and begun the same task in the North. Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces now have the role of delivering essential services, rebuilding habitats, clearing mines and restoring vital infrastructure to whole tracts of formerly decimated land.

Despite the lingering dangers that have remained, Sri Lanka has never-the-less repealed a substantial part of the Emergency Regulations so necessary during our conflict situation and plans to repeal a good part of the remainder in the coming months.

A great deal has been said by those beyond our borders about our Tamil community. Let me be clear, no nation on earth can wish Sri Lanka’s Tamil community more good fortune than Sri Lanka itself.

To the mis-guided few, I say, do not allow yourselves to become an instrument of division, hate and violence, to be used as an enabler for hatred to be reborn in another form. Rather come, let us join hands and break the bonds of mis-trust to rise to new horizons.

Sri Lanka recognises the challenges we face, among the greatest of which is healing the wounds of the recent past. To this end, earlier this year, a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission has been established, giving full expression to the principles of accountability.

This independent Commission, comprising eight Sri Lankans of eminence and stature, has already begun its work. Recently, the Commission handed over to me an interim communication recommending certain administrative steps that may need to be taken in the reconciliation process.

We believe that for the rebuilding and healing of our nation to succeed, the process must evolve from within. If history has taught us one thing, it is that imposed external solutions breed resentment and ultimately fail. Ours, by contrast, is a home grown process, which reflects the culture and traditions of our people.

We certainly welcome the support of the international community as we rebuild our lands and our economy. We sincerely hope that they will be prepared to take a practical approach to developing partnerships with Sri Lanka through international trade, investment and capacity building.

Our economy is well on the way to realising the dividend of peace. We are experiencing steady and sustained growth including during the last quarter of over eight per cent, moderate inflation and low interest rates. During the last five (5) years, we saw our per capita income double. It is our ambition to take this further; to double yet again the present per capita income by 2016 and also become one of the top 30 countries for doing business by 2014.

“Mahinda Chinthana – Vision for the Future”, my election manifesto articulates my vision of having sound infrastructure at the national, provincial and rural levels, which is vital for the inclusive growth, that will make development meaningful to the entirety of society.

I can also proudly claim that my country through the economic strategy is comfortably realizing the millennium development goals, well in advance of the target set by the United Nations.

We are at present strongly focussing on putting in place the necessary public infrastructure and strengthening the enabling policy environment for the private sector to invest even more in my country.

Mr. President,

In order to achieve the full realization of our potential, we desire a supportive external environment. Towards this end, we will always look for constructive engagement and partnerships. We will from our side, continue to contribute as we have always done, to the cause of multi-lateralism and a principled global order.

In this regard, I am happy to note that 2010 marks the fiftieth (50) anniversary since we first contributed to a UN Peacekeeping Mission. Our Armed Forces and the Police are today combat tested, with a capacity to carry out their duties in the most challenging of conditions. I wish Mr. President, therefore to use this forum to re-affirm our willingness to further enhance our support to the UN Peace-Keeping Operations.

Mr. President,

The world unlike in the past has become severely vulnerable to natural disasters. Almost every day we see millions of people becoming victims of severe floods, landslides, volcanoes, cyclones, earthquakes and the like. It has become increasingly difficult for affected countries to manage unassisted, the post disaster recovery programmes. The recent natural calamities in our region underline the crucial need for effective action, in which there is collective participation, to reduce human suffering. Without doubt, climate change and global warming are today issues which demand the urgent attention of all nations.

Mr. President,

Among the political issues that have continued to fester for too long, is the continued denial of the right of the Palestinian people to a State of their own within recognized and secure borders. It is the fervent hope of the people of Sri Lanka that this most tragic of situations would be resolved without delay in a sustainable manner. We hope that Palestine will be a full member of this Assembly next year.

Mr. President,

Our guiding principle must always be that of mutual respect in international discourse, even as we dis-approve and condemn measures such as unilateral embargoes.

Experience in the recent past amply demonstrates that these embargoes impact not on governments but on the most vulnerable sections of the community. In the same spirit, I would call for the empathy of the international community, towards the aspirations of the Cuban people.

Mr President,

I also wish to urge with all the emphasis at my command the need for greater concern and involvement on the part of the international community to assist the people of Africa in their efforts to elevate the quality of life on their continent.

Leaders who have been chosen by their people often face difficult decisions. They must be entitled to the good will and confidence of the international community with regard to the heavy burdens they are required to shoulder. The results of their decisions must be evaluated objectively and must be allowed to speak for themselves.

That is not to say countries should operate in isolation. In this globally inter-dependent world, we must work together where we can and constructively counsel each other where appropriate.

The United Nations forms the bed-rock of this interaction and in this role it will always receive the support of Sri Lanka.

May the Noble Triple Gem Bless you!

Sri Lanka pursues nation-wide agenda of renewal – President

‘International Humanitarian Law should reflect reality of non-state actors in conflicts’
The entire focus of our nation, is now on building a lasting peace; healing wounds, ensuring economic prosperity and guaranteeing the rights of the whole nation to live in harmony, stated President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York today (Sep 23).
We are pursuing a nation-wide agenda of renewal. Sri Lanka has already returned over 90% of the internally displaced persons to their original villages that were previously riddled with landmines, he further said.
A great deal has been said by those beyond our borders about our Tamil community. Let me be clear, no nation on earth can wish Sri Lanka’s Tamil community more good fortune than Sri Lanka itself, President Rajapaksa emphasized.

Following are some highlights of the speech:

* To the mis-guided few, I say, do not allow yourselves to become an instrument of division, hate and violence, to be used as an enabler for hatred to be reborn in another form. Rather come, let us join hands and break the bonds of mis-trust to rise to new horizons
* Sri Lanka recognises the challenges we face, among the greatest of which is healing the wounds of the recent past. To this end, earlier this year, a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission has been established, giving full expression to the principles of accountability.
* We believe that for the rebuilding and healing of our nation to succeed, the process must evolve from within.
* If history has taught us one thing, it is that imposed external solutions breed resentment and ultimately fail.
* Our economy is well on the way to realising the dividend of peace. We are experiencing steady and sustained growth including during the last quarter of over eight per cent, moderate inflation and low interest rates.
* We certainly welcome the support of the international community as we rebuild our lands and our economy. We sincerely hope that they will be prepared to take a practical approach to developing partnerships with Sri Lanka through international trade, investment and capacity building.

source: news.lk

Sri Lanka 83rd in Forbes best countries for business list ahead of China


Sri Lanka 83rd in Forbes best countries for business list

Sri Lanka has been ranked 83rd in the latest Forbes Best Countries for Business list, behind India which was placed 77th but ahead of China at 90, Pakistan at 92 and Bangladesh at 109.Denmark tops the list, followed by Hong Kong in second place, New Zealand in third, Canada in fourth and Singapore in fifth place.
In its fifth annual rankings, Forbes magazine categorized the 128 nations of the world on the basis of property rights, technology, corruption, personal freedom, red tape, investor protection and stock market performance.

18th Amendment passed in Parliament

18th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in Parliament with 144 majority with 161 votes for and 17 against it.

Six UNP MPs cross over to the Govt side

Six UNP MPs crossed over to the govt side just now in Parliament.

The UNP MPs who crossed over to the Government side are Abdul Carder, Upeksha Swarnamalee, Earl Gunasekara, N Wijesinghe, Lakshman Seneviratne & Manusha Nanayakkara.

Houses to war heroes under Api Wenuwen Api project

President Mahinda Rajapaksa declares open another Ranaviru Housing Scheme launched under the Api Wenuwen Api programme. This is the second stage launched under the programme of building 700 houses at the regional level. 27 houses was handed over to the war heroes sunday september 5.
These houses had been built at Thorayaya in Kurunegala under the Second Phase of the Api Wenuwen Api programme. The houses are being given to war heroes who were rendered disabled and to widows and children of the fallen war heroes. Construction of 12 more houses in Kurunegala District is in progress.

The first phase of this program was completed on July 11 with the President handing over the keys of 25 houses in Senarathgama, Kandy to war heroes. The objective of the project is to uplift the living standards of families of war heroes by assisting them to build their own houses on plots of lands owned by them. The third and the fourth phases of the program that had already started in Hambantota and Matara Districts are nearing completion and the next phase will be commenced in the Moneragala district immediately.

Many Sri Lankans living in here and abroad have contributed to the “Api Wenuwen Api” programme at the request of the President and the Defence Secretary and could raise funds totaling over 700 million rupees for the purpose.

It’s all in Mahinda Chintana Idiri Dekma

The proposed Constitutional changes are all in the Mahinda Chintana Idiri Dekma, the policy manifesto of President Mahinda Rajapaksa introduced at the last Presidential election, said Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa yesterday. He was speaking at the meeting held by the President with Heads of media institutions and Editors at Temple Trees.

Refuting arguments put forward by certain Opposition politicians and others, Minister Rajapaksa said that the proposals have not been suddenly brought forward but are all spelt out in the election manifesto. Quoting from the text of the Idiri Dekma he explained that the UPFA has not pledged to abolish the Executive Presidency. It had clearly stated its desire to revise the Executive Presidency to make it more answerable to the Parliament. The proposal to make it mandatory for the President to visit Parliament at least once in three months is a fulfillment of that pledge, he said.

The Idiri Dekma also proposed to replace the 17th Amendment with a workable arrangement in which there would be no stalemate that would hinder the functioning of the public service.

The Parliamentary Council proposed has done away with all defects of the Constitutional Council and comprise Members of Parliament. In the new set up members of the Council are proposed by Parliament and the President could only appoint them.

However, in case of a delay the President is empowered to appoint members so that there is no stalemate or delay. Minister Rajapaksa said this is devolution of the President’s power to the Parliament. He said there is nothing more in the new proposals than what was mentioned in the Idiri Dekma.

source: dailynews 7 9

ජේ.ආර්ගේ ‘ඒකාධිපතියා’ පන්නන්න ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය ගෙනාවා

තමා සූදානම් වන්නේ වත්මන් ඒකාධිපති ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනය කිරීමට බව ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කරයි.

සමහරු කියනවා මම ඒකාධිපති පාලනයකට යන්න හදනවා කියලා. මේ ව්‍යවස්ථාව ගෙනාවේ මම නෙමෙයි. මම හදන්නේ ඒකාධිපති ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනය කිරීමට බව රාජපක්ෂ මහතා කීය.

තමාට අවශ්‍ය වී ඇත්තේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට බලය පැවරෙන ජනතා හිතවාදී ලෙස වත්මන් ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනය කිරීමට බවද ජනාධිපතිවරයා කීය.

දහහත් වැනි සංශෝධනය අනුව ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාවට පත්වන්නේ ජනතා ඡන්දයෙන් තේරුණු පුද්ගලයන් නොවන බව පැවැසූ ජනාධිපතිවරයා එම තත්ත්වය අහෝසි කිරීම සඳහා නව සංශෝධනය මගින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට බලය ලබාදීමට කටයුතු කර තිබෙන බවත් කීවේය.

“කලින් ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව මේ සභාවට සාමාජිකයන් තේරුවේ දේශපාලන නායකයන්. ඒ සාමාජිකයන් කාටවත් වග කියන්නේ නැහැ. එතැනදී පරිපාලනය අවුල් වෙනවා. දෙපාර්තමේන්තු ප්‍රධානීන්ට ඒ ගැන හොයන්න බැහැ.

ඒ නිසයි මම පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට බලය දුන්නේ. පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තමයි උත්තරීතර බලය” යැයිද ජනාධිපතිවරයා සඳහන් කෙළේය. ජනාධිපතිවරයා මේ අදහස් පළ කළේ බදුල්ල ඌව පළාත් සභා ශ්‍රවණාගාරයේ පෙරේදා (04) පැවැති ඌව පළාත් සභා සමුළුවට එක්වෙමිනි.

ඌව පළාතේ මහා සංඝරත්නය සමඟ පැවැති මේ සමුළුවේදී සංඝරත්නය ඉදිරිපත් කළ ගැටලුවලට සාවධානව කන් දුන් ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඒවා විසැඳීමට අවශ්‍ය පියවර ගත්තේය. මගේ කාලය දික්කර ගන්න මට අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. ඒත් ජනාධිපතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් විය. හැකි වාර ගණන වැඩි කරනවා. මේක ඒකාධිපතිකමක්ද? ජනාධිපතිවරයා ප්‍රශ්න කෙළේය.

මේක නොකළොත් මට අවසන් අවුරුදු හයේ දී වැඩක් කරන්න බැරි වෙනවා. හිටපු ජනාධිපතිවරුන්ටත් මේකවුණා. නිලධාරින් ටයි එකත් මාරු කරයි. ඇමැතිවරුන් රණ්ඩු වෙයි. එහෙම බැහැ. මට මේ අවුරුදු හය රට පාලනය කරන්න ඕනේ ජනතාව වෙනුවෙන්” යැයි ජනාධිපතිවරයා කීවේය.

“අපට විහිළු කර කර ඉන්න වෙලාවක් නැහැ. ජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් මේ රට ගොඩනඟන්න ඕනේ. අපට ඒ පිළිබඳ වගකීමක් තිබෙනවා” යැයි ජනාධිපතිවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් ප්‍රකාශ කෙළේය.

බදුල්ල, මුතියංගණ රජමහා විහාරාධිකාරි මුරුද්දෙණියේ ධම්මරතන හිමියන් ප්‍රමුඛ ඌව පළාත් තෛ‍්‍රනිකායික මහා සංඝරත්නයත්, ඌව පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාර සී. නන්දමැතිව්, මහ ඇමැති ශෂීන්ද්‍ර රාජපක්ෂ, ඇමැති නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා, නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමැති ජගත් පුෂ්පකුමාර මහත්වරුන් ඇතුළු පිරිසක්ද මේ අවස්ථාවට එක්වූහ.

dinamina 9 6

Proposed Constitutional reforms: Asgiri Nayake Thera bestows blessings

*Constitution should not bar popular mandate

*Opposition should also support reforms

A leader loved by the people and sincerely committed to the welfare of the country should have the opportunity to rule the country without any legal constraints as long as the people desire so, said Asgiri Mahanayake Most Ven Udugama Sri Buddharakkhita Thera when he met External Affairs Minister Prof G L Pieris.

The Minister was on a mission to brief the Mahanayake Theras on the proposed Constitutional reforms.

“The country must have a stable ruler with necessary powers. There should be no term limits for a leader who loves the people and contributes to the country’s development. If the people demand his leadership without rejecting him, it is wrong to impose constraints on his rule,” the Mahanayake Thera said. He also said that the proposed reforms are being brought not for the President’s personal gain but for the benefit of the country. As such other groups also should support his endeavour, the Nayake Thera added.

“Through the amendment there won’t be any extension of the duration of the Presidency because the people would be free to elect anyone of their choice. If someone else gets elected he also could stay in office as long as the people wish.”

The Maha Nayake Thera also called on the Opposition to support the reforms as they are beneficial.

There is a huge development drive in the country and it should not be interrupted, he said.

“That is why our blessing are for the reforms,” the Nayake Thera said.

External Affairs Minister Prof Peiris also met Malwathu Mahanayake Most Ven Tibbotuwawe Sri Sidhartha Sumangala Thera. He handed over a document containing a summary of the proposed reforms to both Mahanayake Theras.

He explained how investments have started to flow in and a great development has taken place in the country since the end of terrorism.

For uninterrupted progress of economic development a stable leadership is required, he said. In his opinion the proposed reforms extend the scope of universal suffrage and reinforce democracy.

It is the people who will decide whether the incumbent President wins or loses, he said.

The Minister further said, “in the present circumstances the President as Commander in Chief has the power to give necessary directives with regard the Constitution with respect to the Armed Forces.

However with respect to police, this power has been devolved through the independent commissions.

The proposed reforms intend to confer undevolved power to the President with respect to the police too.”

source: dailynews 9 6