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Saturday, 5 September 2015 00:54 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday made a rallying call to his Cabinet members to dedicate themselves to developing the country.
Drawing parallels from history, Wickremesinghe recalled that Sri Lanka was having a national government for the first time in more than 60 years. He pointed out the last time Sri Lanka had a national government was under the Donoughmore Constitution from 1931 to 1947.
“During that time progressive policies including free education and healthcare were implemented, Sri Lanka faced World War II and received independence from colonial powers.”
The second example provided by the Prime Minister was post World War II Britain that formed a national government to rebuild the country.
“This is a historical day. Today we have put aside petty, short term political agendas to work together for the people. These two years are dedicated to solving national problems. We will monitor the progress of the National Government and adjust accordingly,” he told the newly-minted Cabinet.
He went on to say the international community has accepted Sri Lanka’s National Government and that it could work to resolve both internal and external problems.
“If we work together we can make national policies that will last 10, 15 or even 20 years. That is the main duty of this Cabinet. It is not hard to rethink the traditional format of politics that we have followed so far and join the whole parliament to foster development,” he added.
He also acknowledged that the planned provincial and district level committees would be challenging but insisted it was essential to iron out red tape knots in the governance system.
“We must show the world what we can do. If we fail, the people will lose faith in us. We must fearlessly face this situation and resolve problems so that we can make the people’s aspirations a reality.”
