President tells young Royalists to remain in the country

The country has two tasks. One is to put the economy into order and the other is reconciliation, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

Addressing an event held at Royal College, Colombo today (22) to honour President Wickremesinghe he said when he took over the country there was a total collapse of the economy resulting in every household facing the consequences with increased taxes and price hikes.

“It was a tough call, but I did not want it to go on for much longer. I don’t want you'll to suffer. We want to start fighting back and we want to have an economic resurrection. What I learnt in Royal College, is to do what is correct and do what is good for your country. Every decision I have taken I have thought twice or thrice on what is the burden it will impose on the public,” he said.

The President urged young Royalists to stay in the country and to build a new Sri Lanka.

“So many of you will go abroad for studies and some of you will stay here. I studied at Royal and I could have gone abroad to a university but I didn’t. I stayed here because I owed my education to the state which paid for me. The Prime Minister went abroad and studied there but he remembered his obligation to the country, so he came back. And that is what you have to do. All of you come here to this school and for each of you selected, there were another 100 that were left behind. The country chose you to come here. The school chose you to come here. Then, you have the responsibility to come back to your country or stay in your country,” President Wickremesinghe said.

“For all of you who come back, take your place in society and do your best. Whether you are at the highest level or whether you are running a normal business, that's what you have to do,” he added.

He also requested all citizens, including politicians, professionals, teachers, those engaged in agriculture, the business community, and members of the security forces, police and civil servants, to work together to overcome the current economic crisis and promote reconciliation efforts. (Pix by Indika Handuwela)