Don’t oppose all Govt initiatives for the sake of opposing: President tells Opposition

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa urged the Opposition not to oppose all the people’s oriented government initiatives by staging more protests in the country considering the recent increasing trend of fresh COVID-19 cases being reported after the country was reopened. 

He said that he did not expect the Opposition to oppose everything to the government initiatives but to support what’s right for the future of the country.

“The country has been opened up and all activities have commenced under the new normalization. But there is a risk of the COVID-19 spreading again due to various activities including protests and demonstrations.  This situation could lead to the country being shut down again,” President Rajapaksa said that the Opposition should realize the serious damage this could do to the people and the economy.

The President made these remarks addressing a function held at Temple Trees today to mark the National Science Day and the Science Week held in Sri Lanka in parallel to the World Science Day.

“Two years have passed in my tenure. During that time the government had to play a huge role to protect the people from COVID-19. The then rulers, the Opposition should understand this situation. Due to the weaknesses and failures of their five years in power, the people elected me as the President.  But today it is unfortunate to see that the Opposition is behaving like a group that didn’t have power ever before. Taking steps to change this situation is a present need of the country for its future.

The impact of science and technology can be seen in every field in today’s world. Without new technological know-how, future generations will not be able to face the challenges of the modern world. Recognizing this, the President emphasized the urgent need for educational reforms to build a future generation equipped with advanced technology.

In 2001, UNESCO declared November 10 of each year as World Science Day for Peace and Development. Sri Lanka has been celebrating this day every year since 2004. A Science Week has been declared to coincide with the celebration of Science Day this year.

The technology and innovation in the country has experienced a revival due to the government’s implementation of the programme aimed at a technology-based society in accordance with the “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour” policy statement. As a result, Sri Lanka which was ranked 101st in the Global Innovation Index 2020 was ranked 95th out of 132 countries in 2021.

Minister Namal Rajapaksa presented the “Dasis Awards” to the winners of the Innovation Competition which was annually organised by the Sri Lanka Inventors Commission.

The audience was also briefed on the features of the “Oxygen Concentrator” machine manufactured by the National Engineering Research & Development Centre of Sri Lanka.