Karu says new President, Govt. must find solutions to crisis through common consensus

Former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya

National Movement for Social Justice Chairman and former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya in a statement yesterday emphasised the primary responsibility of the new President and the Government is to find solutions to the country’s crisis through a common consensus.

Following is the full text of the statement.

We as a country are now at a critical juncture where we must choose a new leadership for our motherland. We consider it an extremely important task that must be carried out with great responsibility. We also believe the main principle that must be followed here is that the process must take place in accordance with the existing Constitution of the country. 

Today that responsibility lies with the Parliament of this country. Accordingly, we expect that the Members of Parliament as representatives of this country will fulfil this responsibility according to their conscience for the future of the country. We also expect all relevant parties will take an approach of common consensus to provide solutions to the severe crisis faced by the country today. The National Movement for a Just Society has several expectations of the new President who will be appointed shortly. Among these, the main and perhaps the most important expectation is that the President must provide a satisfactory and practical solution to the severe economic and political crisis that the country is facing today.

The best approach for this would be to form an all-party Government for a short period of time and thereby directing all political forces of the country to arrive at a common consensus. Here the first task for the all-party Government should be to immediately strike off the 20th Amendment to the Constitution which vested the majority of the powers in the hands of one person thereby becoming the primary reason for the severe crisis the country is facing today. The Government must take steps to address the shortcomings of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and re-enact it. 

Next the Government should establish the sectoral committee system allowing each MP to represent any industry in these committees thereby ensuring unity and participation in governance that is imperative in an all-party Government. Our proposals relating to these have already been submitted and we would like to express our appreciation for the positive attention that the Parliament has already shown in this regard.

It will also be a responsibility of the new all-party Government to formulate a new constitution in place of the existing constitution that will lead to the development of the country and will also fully protect democratic principles and rights of the people. 

Following the completion of these basic tasks the Government must after a certain time period hold a free and fair election allowing the people to form a Government of their choice and also hold a referendum to elicit the opinion of the people about a new constitution. 

Through these proposals what the National Movement for Social Justice seeks is a practical and democratic approach for the future wellbeing of the country. We should not forget that these proposals are also the aspirations of the youth and civil community engaged in the non-partisan struggle. The Government must also heed their voices. 

We repeatedly emphasise the importance of understanding the deep crisis faced by our country today and the importance of resorting to an approach of consensus at this juncture while also protecting the identities and ideologies of each relevant party and force.