By Chamodi Gunawardana

A group from the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) yesterday asserted that it would continue pursuing its political goal of introducing political reforms within the next five years.

Addressing its first media briefing since the recent General Election, UNFGG Colombo District Parliamentarian Patali Champika Ranawaka stressed that the next five years would be Sri Lanka’s most progressive period of development. 

“People placed their trust in the UNFGG. We obtained the mandate to govern the country. We believe that this victory was the second step of the revolution which started on 8 January,” Ranawaka said.

Ranawaka went on to say that the UNFGG and one of its constituent parties, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), would not allow anyone to divide the country. 

“There will be no room for nationalism and separatism within the country and we pledge to protect the nation from terrorism. We will never let the country slip into trouble,” he noted.

Commenting on the amendment, he asserted that Sri Lanka’s political tradition really needed to change through a new electoral system.

“Due to the use of the Proportional Representation System (PR) there was close competition between candidates. Therefore demand for electoral reforms has again arisen. We expect to work on the 20th Amendment as soon as possible to give an effective solution to this competitiveness,” Ranawaka stated. 

He went on to state that the present legal framework was insufficient to prevent political fraud and corruption.  

“Around 1,900 politically-motivated bribery complaints are pending at the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. We believe that they should all be investigated through a proper process. This should be the first step of the UNFGG’s five-year plan,” Ranawaka explained.

Ranawaka urges SLFP, TNA to embrace change

UNFGG Colombo District MP Champika Ranawaka yesterday invited the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to restructure their party. 

He said that the SLFP should leave the traditional mindset of Rajapaksa behind and pave the way for a stronger Opposition. 

“We think that the SLFP should re-establish itself and change its mindset too. It should treat the recent election results as a lesson,” Ranawaka emphasised.

Talking about the the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Ranawaka said that the party should make amendments to its manifesto in order to work together with the Government.

“The election results of Northern province have displayed that TNA does not have the fullest authority of it. We hope that TNA will support UNFGG to create democratic governance,” he said.