Young professionals should play active political role: UNP

Saturday, 18 October 2014 02:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Western Provincial Councillor and Chairman of the UNP Young Professionals’ Organisation (YPO), Harshana Rajakaruna has emphasised on the need for young professionals to play an active political role in the country in a bid to pave the way for a good alternative government. “The youth of this country is facing a dilemma under the current regime and it is time that we realised that we need to stand up against the breakdown of rule of law and corruption. The current Government is ruining our future and the future of our youth. It is the need of the hour for young professionals to come together and bring in professionalism to politics,” he said.

Rajakaruna, who was delivering the commencement speech at the panel discussion themed ‘Why we need an alternative government’ organised by the Colombo Chapter of the UNP YPO which was held on Wednesday, stated that it was time for the youth of this country to realise that law and order, democracy, human rights and media freedom have gradually eroded and it was time to look into an alternative government. The panellists at the discussion comprised Chandra Jayaratne (former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce), Lal Wijenaike (Head of Rule of Law Committee of the Sri Lanka Bar Association) and UNP Parliamentarians Eran Wickramaratne and Dr. Harsha De Silva. UNP Parliamentarian Dr. Harsha De Silva addressing the panel discussion stated that Sri Lanka is one of the few countries in the world where its citizens do not have the right to information. He also mentioned that the UNP had previously made two attempts to introduce the Right To Information Bill which got voted down in Parliament.

“The right to information is restricted by the regime. We obviously have a serious problem on our hands,” Dr. De Silva said. He also went on to charge that the Government was making an attempt to conceal the borrowings made by many State institutions. Parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne stated that the UNP as a party was ready face the upcoming presidential polls. “We all want better parliamentarians. Even more than education, we would want ethical people in Parliament. The UNP needs to show the way on how it will handle the nomination list in the future,” Wickramaratne said.