The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), the foremost apolitical, non-trade union, academic healthcare organisation of all grades of doctors in the country, in a statement yesterday urged the Government to step down than taking the country further down the abyss. 

Following is the full text of the statement issued by SLMA President Prof. Samath D. Dharmaratne and Honorary Secretary Prof. Ishan de Zoysa.

We wish to express gravest fears regarding the way our beloved motherland is being dragged along with no clear solutions in sight to pull this country out of the abyss that it has been made to sink into.

It is obvious that apart from being prophets of doom and presenting meaningless rhetoric, the current administration of our Government has no far-reaching plans, vibrant solutions nor fresh ideas to help our severely ailing country. The entire administration has miserably failed our country and its people in this hour of our most desperate need.

We have seen the tremendous and unbearable suffering of the masses with distressing problems that have become an unfortunate part of their lives. These are obvious and well known but yet, the authorities seem to be completely deaf and blind to them. It is not necessary for us at the SLMA to reiterate the dreadful misery that our people have been subjected to during the last few months. The governing regime has completely failed in its sacred duty to safeguard our people. In such a scenario, we are forced to declare, without any hesitation whatsoever, that what is needed as a likely solution to all these ills that we are forced to suffer, is a complete change of direction for the country.

We are compelled to say enough, is definitely enough. The only choice that we have is to fervently request the current administration to step down without any further delay at all and hand over the reins to an all-party consensual administration. Such an administration could then at least try to salvage the country from the many faceted quagmire to which it has been dragged into by poor governance. It is a frightening impeachment on the political representatives of the current Government, duly elected by our own people.

What is desperately required is to implement such a course of action immediately. There is no more time to be lost in such an endeavour. It is our opinion that even now it may be rather late in the day to take such remedial action, but it is perhaps better late than never.

We are issuing this statement to demonstrate our uninhibited agreement with similar sentiments expressed by the people of our country, the intelligentsia, religious dignitaries and even the international community.

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