Sirisena says: President, PM to convene all-party conference

Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), former President Maithripala Sirisena said the President and Prime Minister pledged to convene an all-party general assembly at the end of this month, to discuss the current crises in the country.

Sirisena said so after the SLFP meeting with the President at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (8).

“As the President promised, all parties in Parliament will be invited to the general assembly by the end of this month. This assembly will be convened to discuss and take immediate action to save the people from the country’s crises. Also, 15 proposals presented by the SLFP were approved at the meeting,” he said.

Sirisena also said, in addition to the all-party general assembly, the President will convene a scholars’ assembly, as requested by the SLFP. “The President will convene two separate assemblies in the presence of religious leaders. Meanwhile, as the SLFP, we brought to the President’s attention the fact that the SLFP does not agree with the proposal tabled in Parliament in connection with the Local Government Elections,” he said.

Sirisena said the need for the involvement of religious leaders in discussions was also emphasised during the meeting.

“The SLFP also opposed the proposals made for the amendment of the Local Government Election system put forward by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Election Law Reforms,” he said, adding that the election system should be reformed in a manner that minority political parties also have a possibility of winning elections.

Meanwhile, Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera claimed that the President also vowed that there will be a monthly meeting with the SLFP to discuss current affairs in the country. He also said the meeting for the following month had been scheduled, but no date had been set.

The meeting was held at the Presidential Secretariat and fifteen points that were proposed by the SLFP were discussed for over two hours. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Ministers Basil Rajapaksa and Dinesh Gunawardena, MP Sagara Kariyawasam and Sri Lanka Freedom Party representatives, former President Maithripala Sirisena, Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva and Mahinda Amaraweera, State Ministers Duminda Dissanayake, Dayasiri Jayasekara and Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Deputy Speaker Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, MPs Angajan Ramanathan, Jagath Pushpakumara, Shantha Bandara, Sarathi Dushmantha, Shan Vijayalal de Silva, Chamara Sampath and Suren Raghavan were present at the discussion.

(Source: Ceylon Today – By Thameenah Razeek and Faadhila Thassim)