Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Saturday, 17 August 2019 04:28 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) yesterday pledged to formulate national policies with the involvement of 24 expert committees that will be implemented consistently, regardless of changes of Ministers or Ministry Secretaries. 
Speaking to the media at SLPP head office, Parliamentarian Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said the SLPP will introduce new mechanisms so that national policies will be continued even if there is a change of Minister or Ministry Secretary, which in his view was the primary reason why Sri Lanka historically experienced slow growth.
“We will establish one set of policies that will be implemented consistently. Our policies will be steadfast and that will help to continue all development projects that are crucial for the country. Previously we have seen that when a new minister is appointed new projects start, which may distract from what that ministry was doing earlier. When there is no consistently the public struggles to understand what the Government is doing and how they benefit from it,” Abeywardena said.
He noted the SLPP would conduct a broader study on policies that were introduced by previous governments and access their progress and failures. Abeywardena pointed out the lack of expert knowledge had resulted in the failure of most of the policies that were introduced by previous governments, which according to him, will be addressed if they form the next Government.
He noted the SLPP has appointed 24 expert committees to submit reports from which these national policies will be drawn from based on data and expertise collected by each expert committee.
“The SLPP had appointed a panel of experts to cover almost all fields. They will study policies based on data collected by various sources on all sectors of the economy. Then the panel will formulate the basic framework of policies, which will later study by top officials of the SLPP before finalising policies.”
Abeywardena noted their policy statement will give pride of place to national security and that will consist of modern mechanism to improve the security level of the country. He said the economic development will play a crucial role in the future of the country and they will introduce policies to tackle the debt crisis.
Referring to the citizenship of the SLPP presidential candidate Abeywardena noted they would present documents to the relevant authorities if necessary to prove he has successfully renounced his US citizenship.
“If our presidential candidate has not renounced his US citizenship, will he contest? We will present documents if necessary,” he said.
