Next government would be formed by the SLFP : President

President Maithripala Sirisena today said (Sept 3) that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) would form a government in 2020, hinting at a possibility of an SLFP candidate at the Presidential polls.

Addressing the 68th annual convention of the SLFP, Mr. Sirisena who is the leader of the party said that the upcoming government would be formed based on the policies of the SLFP.

"The SLFP holds the credit of being a government which has been free of fraud and corruption," he said adding that they would form a people-centric and progressive government which would create a suitable environment for all communities.

Mr. Sirisena's remarks came in the wake of discussions taking place between the SLFP and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna on forming an alliance to contest at the upcoming polls.

Commenting on the upcoming Presidential election, the President urged that focus must be drawn on choosing a Prime Minister and not a President since the 19th amendment has curbed the powers of the President.

He also lamented by pointing out that corruption is rampant in the political system and the state sector. "At least 90 percent of the state bodies starting from the Parliament to the local authorities are corrupt," he said.

The President also insisted that the perpetrators of the central bank bond scam which caused massive losses to the government in 2015, must immediately resign from politics.

"Documents have been prepared to extradite Arjuna Mahendran (over the bond scam case). More documents are ready to bring those above him who were involved in the scam before the law," he emphasized.

Mr. Sirisena also blamed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over the failure to conduct the provincial council elections, since his committee had not submitted a delimitation report outlining the provincial boundaries to conduct the polls.

He also accused the United National Front (UNF) government of thwarting the process of fulfilling the promises which had been made to the people in 2015 and called for a force which would defeat a political system centered around corrupt elite groups.

(Pics by Ishanka Sunimal)