The new Government has a fresh look: new faces, educated young MPs with experienced members of parliament and this shows voters have acted with a futuristic vision, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Chairman Prof G.L. Peiris said, commending voters for voting intelligently.
Prof. Peiris told the media after the SLPP’s landslide election victory that the Government will have to be self-critical in the absence of a strong opposition as the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has failed to secure sufficient seats to become a strong opposition party at the next Parliament.
The SLPP secured an easy majority with 145 seats, while the SJB received only 54 seats. The professor added that they hope that SJB members will play their part in parliamentary committees.
He said that the SLPP secured 6.8 million votes, and even if they had got only half of that number, they would have still won the parliamentary election.
“This shows the gravity of the public support the leadership of our party has received,” he said.
Prof G.L. Peiris added that during the election campaign, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa requested the people to give him the support and members of parliament to implement his action plan.
“And this is the reply we received,” he said, referring to the victory they secured at the August 5 election.
He said the President needed a parliament that will work with him. During the previous government, the tug-of-war between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe catapulted the country into devastation.
He said that the public rejected United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s plea to elect his party to uplift the economy.
Prof G.L. Peiris said the people have voted by observing what President Rajapaksa has done and the results he has shown, especially in three areas: Covid-19 management, fight against the underworld and his program to eradicate the drug mafia.
“We take this victory as a challenge. The people gave the Government power to solve their issues. We have the power to amend the Constitution,” Prof Peiris said, adding that the new parliament will not have barriers and therefore, no reason to say that it did not have the ability do what the country needs.
The Government will need new thinking and approaches in terms of foreign policy, which will contrast profoundly with that of the Yahapalana Government, he said.
The Government will take measures to develop the economy in the post Covid-19 situation.
The country’s export performance in July 2020 has improved compared to the correspondent period in the previous year in spite of Covid-19 as a result of accurate policies, Prof G.L. Peiris said.
He said the Government will have to concentrate on requisite changes with regard to the Constitution and the legal system.