{"id":35647,"date":"2014-12-01T17:10:26","date_gmt":"2014-12-01T22:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=35647"},"modified":"2014-12-01T22:11:51","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T03:11:51","slug":"36-parties-and-groups-come-together-under-slogan-ekwemulets-unite-and-sign-memorandum-at-viharamahadevi-theatre-in-colombo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=35647","title":{"rendered":"36 Parties and Groups Come Together Under Slogan \u201cEkwemu\u201d(Let\u2019s Unite) and Sign Memorandum at Viharamahadevi Theatre in Colombo."},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/p>\n

Dharisha Bastians<\/strong><\/p>\n

Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena yesterday formally pledged to abolish the executive presidential system by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with major opposition parties across the ideological spectrum to lock in their support for his election bid.<\/p>\n

\"CBK<\/a><\/p>\n

pic via: facebook.com\/chandrika.bk.12<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018The Common People\u2019s Agenda for Just, Democratic and People-friendly Governance\u2019 was signed by Sirisena and the common opposition movement led by the United National Party at a colourful event held at the Viharamahadevi Open Air theatre in Colombo last morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pledge to protect the trust the people have placed in me. I promise to fulfill this commitment,\u201d Sirisena said, after he placed his signature on the document.<\/p>\n

Fundamental aspects of the agreement include constitutional reform within a 100-day period following Sirisena\u2019s election, which will end the executive presidential system and replace it with a parliamentary model of governance.<\/p>\n

The parties have also pledged to repeal the 18th Amendment and restore independent commissions to depoliticise and oversee elections, police, judicial services and the public service in the country.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Kotte Naga Vihara Chief Incumbent Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero, under whose patronage the MoU was signed, said the Opposition movement was calling on Sirisena to \u201copen the door to democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time we will not be mere spectators in this process. We are not supporting your candidacy to simply stand aside and watch a drama unfold. We will continue this agitation until all these pledges are fulfilled and this system is abolished,\u201d Sobitha Thero charged.<\/p>\n

The moderate scholar monk is largely credited with mobilising a large movement of academics, trade unionists, artists and dissident groups to agitate against the executive presidential system and finally getting major political parties onboard.<\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who was the first to place his signature on the document said the time had come to end what he called the \u201cRajapaksa journey\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the very first step. Another term for President Rajapaksa will mean the end of democracy, the end of the multi-party system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Government installed after opposition victory in the presidential poll in January would not only usher in constitutional change, but also bring about a social revolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will create a new society, one without poverty and unemployment,\u201d Wickremesinghe pledged.<\/p>\n

Former President Kumaratunga, who received a huge cheer from the crowd as she rose to speak, strongly criticised the ruling administration as being one of the most \u201cbrutal\u201d Sri Lanka had ever experienced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have tolerated this regime for nine years because tolerance is the Buddhist way. But enough is enough,\u201d she charged.<\/p>\n

Kumaratunga also provided a character certificate to her former minister and party General Secretary, saying he was a man with \u201cvision\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have worked with him for many years. Before that he has worked with my mother and my brother Anura. This man is no thief or murderer. He is a man with vision and a political philosophy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kumaratunga defended her own record and said she had made valiant efforts and made \u2018life sacrifices\u2019 to reform Sri Lanka\u2019s Constitution to ensure greater devolution for minority communities and the scrapping of the presidential system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just never managed to get numbers in Parliament to pass the draft Constitution. We needed 2\/3 majority,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

The former SLFP chairman urged her party-men to join the Opposition cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not just a battle to save the country; it is also a battle to save the SLFP. This was once a party that created great leaders,\u201d she appealed.<\/p>\n

Former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka said he had been very happy when Maithripala Sirisena had been named the common opposition candidate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have faith in him,\u201d the former General said, adding that he had first met Sirisena when he was Maheweli Minister in 1996.<\/p>\n

Under the theme \u2018Ekwemu\u2019 or \u2018Let\u2019s Unite\u2019,<\/strong> the United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka and his Democratic Party and Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero placed their signatures to the MoU.<\/em><\/p>\n

The agreement was inked by 36 Opposition parties and groups, including Mano Ganeshan\u2019s Democratic People\u2019s Front and Azath Sally\u2019s Muslim Tamil National Alliance and the alternative groups of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and Communist Party \u2013 whose mainstream groups remain members of the ruling UPFA coalition. <\/p>\n

The Free Media Movement, the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA), the National Front for Good Governance and other civil society groups also signed the MoU yesterday.<\/p>\n


\nCrucial JHU announcement today<\/strong><\/p>\n

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will lose the support of a key constituent member of his ruling alliance, when the nationalist Jathika Hela Urumaya extends its support to his main opposition challenger, Maithiripala Sirisena today.<\/p>\n

The JHU signed a memorandum of understanding with Sirisena yesterday, highly placed sources told Daily FT, but the party will only make its stand public at a press briefing in Colombo today.<\/p>\n

It was not immediately clear if the MoU was the same document signed by 36 opposition parties led by the UNP and the common candidate at Viharamahadevi Park yesterday.<\/p>\n

The party did not attend the signing ceremony at the park yesterday.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, the JHU, which has been a member of the ruling alliance since 2005, quit their Cabinet portfolios and all other positions in the Government.<\/p>\n

The party has been scathingly critical of Government corruption and has vowed to defeat President Rajapaksa at the presidential election, after he refused to undertake major constitutional reforms to prune presidential powers ahead of declaring the poll.<\/p>\n

The right wing party has three MPs elected on the UPFA ticket.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:DailyFT<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Dharisha Bastians Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena yesterday formally pledged to abolish the executive presidential system by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with major opposition parties across the ideological spectrum to lock in their support for his election bid. pic via: facebook.com\/chandrika.bk.12 \u2018The Common People\u2019s Agenda for Just, Democratic and People-friendly Governance\u2019 was signed by …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘36 Parties and Groups Come Together Under Slogan \u201cEkwemu\u201d(Let\u2019s Unite) and Sign Memorandum at Viharamahadevi Theatre in Colombo.’ »<\/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\/35647"}],"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=35647"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35669,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35647\/revisions\/35669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}