PM SEEKS JAPANESE SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his address to Japanese parliamentarians said yesterday he expected the Japanese government to support Sri Lanka to organise a forum to obtain assistance for economic development in affected areas of Sri Lanka.
“We also expect Japanese support for Sri Lanka’s efforts to bring about national reconciliation and peace.
Sri Lanka came in for praise at the ongoing UNHRC sessions in Geneva.We have as our main objective of working towards reconciliation among all communities and religious and ethnic harmony
The policies of the new government came in for high praise at the UNHRC sessions early this month
Especially Japanese support to summon a forum for the economic assistance for development in affected areas in Sri Lanka,” Mr. Wickremesinghe told the Japanese parliamentarians at the special conference hall of the Japanese Parliament. “Today we have established the democratic principles of good governance, transparency, rule of law and judicial freedom.”
The policies of the new government came in for high praise at the UNHRC sessions early this month.
The United National Party and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party have joined together in forming a National Government similar t o the current government in Germany. The two main political parties in Sri Lanka have reached a consensus on burying their differences and developing the country.
The prime minister recalled the saying of former American PresidentAbraham Lincoln that the ballot was more powerful, peaceful and legally acceptable when compared with the bullet.
The new government will give priority to the introduction of a new constitution while consolidating human rights and strengthening institutions of governance. However, our main objective would be the search for religious and ethnic reconciliation and harmony.
He said discussions had already begun with the main Tamil political party the Tamil National Alliance and others to reach a political solution to the longstanding national question.
“I believe in a consensual solution within the framework of a Sri Lankan identity to these contentious issues based on equality and social justice,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said.
“We hope the Japanese Government will help Sri Lanka in these endeavours and help us to in the sectors of science and technology by setting up an academy of technology on the Japanese mode and cooperate with us in providing human security and remedies for climatic disasters and creating an environment for increased Japanese private investments in Sri Lanka.”