President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that two days before the death of Queen Elizabeth II, she had spent half of the day with the outgoing Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, and she looked tired.
“The video footage of the meeting was shown over the TV.”
The President also said that spending half a day with a former prime minister and a current prime minister is really exhausting.
The President said this while addressing Parliament today (23).
The President, who participated in the parliamentary proceedings this morning, made this statement by expressing condolences on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The President, who spoke approvingly of the condolence motion presented by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on the death of Queen Elizabeth, expressed appreciation for the service rendered by her to the Commonwealth of countries, including Sri Lanka.
When looking at the congratulatory messages received when he was elected the President by Parliament, the President said that the Queen had sent him a congratulatory message on his assumption of the presidency, and if it was not the last congratulatory message, it might have been one of the last congratulatory messages sent by her. He also said that no one expected her to pass away so soon after suffering a fall.
The President recalled Queen Elizabeth II’s role as the Queen of Sri Lanka and recalled that she made a crucial contribution to the development of Sri Lankan politics.
The President said that as the queen of Sri Lanka, she contributed to the holding of the 1956 general election and also played a key role in protecting Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
The President recalled that she provided her aegis for the Sambuddhatva Jayanthi celebration as the Head of State of Sri Lanka during the 2500th Sambuddhatva Jayanthi Festival in 1956.
The President recalled here that she played a special role in the political transformations that took place from a Dominion State to that of a Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka.