{"id":35127,"date":"2014-11-20T15:26:28","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T20:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=35127"},"modified":"2014-11-20T15:26:28","modified_gmt":"2014-11-20T20:26:28","slug":"rumblings-of-discontent-heard-as-liberal-party-leader-rajiva-wijesinha-m-p-writes-to-president-rajapaksa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=35127","title":{"rendered":"Rumblings of Discontent Heard as Liberal Party Leader Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. Writes to President Rajapaksa."},"content":{"rendered":"

(Text of Letter sent by Liberal party leader and National list MP Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha to President Rajapaksa on behalf of the party expressing disappointment at current developments)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your Excellency<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the last meeting of the Executive Committee of the Liberal Party, it was decided, as requested by them, to support the request of the Left Parties that national elections not be held in the short term. <\/p>\n

We too feel that it would be better instead to embark on the reforms that have been pledged in Your Excellency\u2019s manifesto as well as in other contexts.<\/p>\n

These reforms should be based on the vision Your Excellency used to express regarding bringing government closer to the people, and ensuring greater responsiveness and accountability in respect of local needs. The need for devolution is something the Liberal Party has always stressed, but we have also been conscious of the need for national security. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

However, as we have often pointed out, giving greater responsibility to the people and to local communities for matters that affect them closely, on the principle of subsidiarity, is quite feasible whilst also ensuing the security of the nation.<\/p>\n

But devolution must also be accompanied by empowerment. So we also need to move towards developing a technologically competent younger generation, and pay much greater attention than now to maximizing human resources.<\/p>\n

In this regard Bills that need to be expedited include the following, which are pledged or planned<\/p>\n

a) A new Universities Act that provides meaningful training that promotes employability free to those who need it, whilst facilitating the establishment of other centres of excellence through private\/ public partnerships<\/p>\n

b) A new Education Act that ensures holistic education, with greater stress of skills and competencies that are developed through extra-curricular activities such as Sports and Social Service and Cultural Activities<\/p>\n

c) A new Local Government Act that increases the power of local authorities in specific fields whilst also entrenching consultation mechanisms with provision for feedback<\/p>\n

d) An Act to change the Electoral system so as to enhance the accountability to specific electorates of Members of Parliament, whilst also preserving proportional representation without the distortions of the current system<\/p>\n

We must also revise Adminstrative and Financial Regulations, as has been agreed is essential in response to strictures made by the Committee on Public Enterprises on which I have had the honour to serve. Such Regulations should establish consultation mechanisms such as the Jana Sabhas you mentioned, but these must be vehicles for the people, not tools for politicians. The initial steps taken by the Ministry of Public Administration in this regard should be strengthened.<\/p>\n

It would also help to fast forward action on the National Human Rights Action Plan, as well as on the LLRC Recommendations, all of which have been approved by Cabinet. I believe the position of the government would also be immeasurably improved if the National Policy on Reconciliation were adopted.<\/p>\n

Without such measures the decline in popularity that we have recently witnessed will continue. A hasty election will be seen as evidence of panic, and this can be easily exploited. On the other hand, unless there is evidence of change, the people will have no reason to continue to vote for this government, since the economics and social benefits of peace that were anticipated are no longer evident.<\/p>\n

It would be tragic if the tremendous achievement of 2009 were to be squandered. Though it may be claimed that the Liberal Party is not in touch with electoral reality, it must also be recognized that our analyses of political developments, based on wide knowledge and established principles, have generally been accurate. <\/p>\n

Given our initial contribution to the international dimensions of the victories of 2009, we too have reason to argue for measures that will allow us to build positively on that foundation, rather than stand back and see it destroyed.
\n
\nYours sincerely<\/p>\n

Prof Rajiva Wijesinha<\/p>\n

Leader, Liberal Party of Sri Lanka<\/strong><\/p>\n

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(Text of Letter sent by Liberal party leader and National list MP Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha to President Rajapaksa on behalf of the party expressing disappointment at current developments) Your Excellency At the last meeting of the Executive Committee of the Liberal Party, it was decided, as requested by them, to support the request of the Left …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Rumblings of Discontent Heard as Liberal Party Leader Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. Writes to President Rajapaksa.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35128,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35127\/revisions\/35128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}