The 9th Executive President of Sri Lanka, Anura Kumara Dissanayake vowed to the nation for the first time after assuming office that he is ready to convince the society that he will fulfill the work assigned to him as the President of this country. Also he said that he is ready to meet the challenge at this challenging time the country is facing .
Addressing for the first time to the nation soon after the swear in ceremony held today morning at the Presidential Secretariat made these remarks.
Commenting on the change in the political culture, the president Anura Kumara Dissanayake further said that regardless of the balance of power in the world, it is the expectation of his administration to deal with each state in the most favorable way for the country, and to make the necessary decisions to move together with the world as a state that is not isolated in the world. He confirmed that he would not hesitate at all.
He further said
“The most important feature of democracy in our country is that the people elect a ruler for their governance. But voting in an election and electing a ruler does not end democracy. Although it is a basic feature of democracy, in order to strengthen democracy in our country, we need the strength of structures as well as legal strength.
Therefore, I would like to inform the people of our country first of all. I am ready to confirm my maximum commitment for the democracy of this country during my tenure. Also, in our country, there is a history of democratic transfer of power in an election, no leader has ever rejected a transfer of power in an election. Accordingly, former President Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe is very grateful for his dedication and example for the democratic transfer of power by accepting the mandate of the people.
We understand very deeply that what we are getting is a very challenging country. The politics of our country should be more clean than this. There is a need for a good political culture that the people expect a lot. We are ready to dedicate ourselves to it. Common citizens have a bad idea about the politician and politics of our country. There is an idea that politics is not appropriate. Therefore, with our utmost commitment, we are doing everything we can to confirm the public’s respect and trust towards politics and the politician. And we do not believe that the deepest crisis we are facing is something that can be solved by a mere government, a mere political party, or a mere individual. As I have stated before, I am not a magician. I am an ordinary citizen born in this country. There are possibilities. There are inabilities. There are things to know. There are unknowns. But my most important task is to absorb the abilities, gather what I know and make the best decisions and act.
Therefore, it is my responsibility to become a participant in that collective intervention. For that, I become a part of the collective intervention. Common citizens and people from all walks of life have a great responsibility in ending this crisis. I expect everyone’s support to fulfill that responsibility. But as the president of the country, I have understood that I have the foremost and most important responsibility of leading this work. Therefore, I am ready to convince the citizens and society of this country that I will fulfill the work assigned to me in order to overcome this challenge.
And our country needs international support. We maintain our foreign policy in a way that is most advantageous to us in any division of power in the world. We don’t want an isolated state in the world; A state that should move forward collectively and jointly with the world. We do not hesitate to take the necessary decisions for that. Industrialists and entrepreneurs have a great role to play in building our country. We hope that they will support and help the government process to build our country stronger.
In conclusion, I am elected as president through a democratic process in our country. People have voted for me for that election. There are number of votes that were not given to me. So we have a very good understanding of the composition and size of the win. Therefore, we are confident that I can successfully carry out the role assigned to me during my administration, to gain the support and trust of those who did not vote for us and do not believe in us. All this will be experienced in practice in the future. Everyone’s support is expected for that
Theruwan Saranai. God bless everyone. Thank you very much.”
