The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna is the most powerful part of this government...
There have always been coalition governments in this country...
The Prime Minister made these comments in Kirillawala on 17.06.2024 while attending the conference organized by the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna Gampaha District Council under the title "The Future of the Country and Our Responsibility".
The Prime Minister addressed the gathering stating-
"We are coming together at a time when our country has overcome several critical moments and also after creating that confidence that we can win strongly in the future.Countries that created various economic models throughout the world have proved that no economy is stable all the time. The development of science, the development of research, and the struggles in public and under cover between the powers in the world affect this. Each party has worked to create something new by searching for new things in the world.
Let us move towards the goals of rapidly transforming the government and the institutions established through the government. In order to move towards those goals by changing the current conditions, the government needs the strength of the people to be able to move with determination. Especially the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna is the most powerful part of this government. The parliamentary group of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna is the most powerful party in our parliament. To maintain a strong parliament, our parliamentary group of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna united with its alliance parties, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, and E. P. D. P., within the party and the government, we were able to bring this country to a stage where we could rebuild it in the last two years.
The country has always had coalition governments. Don’t think it’s new. In our country, except when a stable public decision has been made, all other political fronts, political coalitions existed inside the parliament and outside the society. New forces are emerging. The people gathered around the new requirements and presented their demands. Although they are not political parties, it is essential for the progress of a Democratic society.
The country needs a new program that has special training for the youth in the fields that are in demand in the world market, such as additional vocational training after education. Young people are our future. We hope to implement a program together that allows for their talents.
The desire to use different models for social development, protecting the identity always turns into an argument in the political field. We have come to a period where we have to prepare our own model based on our nation rather than actions that can be carried out in one model. What does our economic growth mean? Not to become a giant in the economy but to become stronger.
The economic crisis faced by the current government was more difficult than ever. We are at an all-time high in foreign debt. Foreign private lenders have also provided loans to Sri Lanka. If we buy bonds in the international debt market, we have to pay after some time.
Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange will not grow from tea, coconut or rubber alone. The garment industry imports ninety percent of its raw materials from abroad. But Sri Lanka proved in the world market that we can earn a surplus of foreign exchange based on the strength of our ability. If we open new doors in various fields, our country’s economic growth rate can be made stronger and faster. When the economy of this country is strong as well as the economic growth rate, the low income people of our country must be provided with ways and relief to get out of their difficulties. If a large number of people of the population are affected by the poverty, it is not a victory. The government is obliged to provide more opportunities and relief to the people suffering from poverty. As a government, we have very deliberately announced our desire to engage in targeted economic development in our economic framework today. People have many difficulties. We accept that. Today, the economy has reached a state where it can be relaxed and developed. Today, the international community has accepted that our country is a country that can do international transactions. Two years ago, the international community did not accept our country as a country that could do negotiations. This was a serious problem that we have faced. The process of overcoming initial acceptance and moving forward is extraordinary.
We are facing an election year. We believe that, based on the strength we have built, in this election, we will build the strongest force possible to move our country forward. For the future of the country, for the security of the future of the people of the country, for the independence of the motherland, a strong force is needed to move the country forward by creating economic growth."
State Minister Sisira Jayakodi, Vice President of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, stated that -
"Our motherland has a legacy of many national heroes who went ahead for the sovereignty of our country and made huge sacrifices for the independence of the country. Their courage and efforts made our country self-sufficient. Various riots in 71/88/89, violence in July 1983, and by 2004 the Tsunami disaster, we faced various difficulties like these and threats as a country. There were different challenges and different difficulties. There was a thirty year long war. The new generation of our country has now forgotten that there was a war. Mahinda Rajapaksa gave great leadership as the Commander in Chief. Leaders of our country led by Dinesh Gunawardena, made great sacrifices for the unity of the motherland with the unlimited sacrifices made by the war heroes of our country. They saved the country. It is a nation that has achieved everything in the seventy years since independence.
Recently, our economy began to collapse. Many fields including the tourism industry faced many challenges. In the face of the Covid epidemic, many people in our country said that it does not matter if they are in hunger, it does not matter if the economy is collapsed but save the lives of the country. The President then said that if the country is closed for a long time, it will be an economic decline that cannot be sustained. Employees from foreign countries tried to come to Sri Lanka. The government led by the then Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena worked to bring more than one hundred thousand people to Sri Lanka within three months. Revenue from the tourism was lost. This is where the dollar deficit and economic decline was caused.
Today, there is a professional struggle among university non-academic staff and hospital staff, and problems have arisen between the same political groups within the trade unions. When solving the problems of a country, there is a need for harmony among the general public. No one in the world can work alone. Even if there are shortcomings, we have to aim for the overall achievement for the sake of the common goals. It is very natural. We are in an era where we as a country need to work more seriously and intelligently to solve the challenges we are facing.
Various proposals are being made these days about the presidential election. Various Presidential candidates are coming to the floor. Regardless of who is the President or the Presidential candidates, the entire people of this country have decided one thing. There is no lasting for any force in this country that harms the clause of unity in the constitution. As a political movement, we will not allow it. Our country has to move towards a programme that protects the rights of the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities while preserving the unity of this country and the place given to the Buddhist order."
Maha Sangha including Ven. Amunugama Nanda Thera, MP Yadamini Gunawardena, Deputy Secretary of the MEP, MP Sahan Pradeep, Member of the Central Committee of MEP Prof. Nanda Dharmaratne, public representatives, and many party members participated in this event.
Prime Minister’s Media