Keen on getting back the support of ethnic minorities, the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), led by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party, has promised that rights of all communities in the country will be protected if it’s voted to power.
The alliance, which released its manifesto on Tuesday, has also said provincial councils and local bodies would be further strengthened under the 13 Constitutional Amendment.
It further offered to hold talks within one month of capturing power with members of the local bodies and Parliament, and representatives of political parties at the national level and those of all communities. In six months, it would come out with a plan to resolve the national problem, according to the manifesto.
Launching the manifesto here, Mr. Rajapaksa, who is contesting on the UPFA platform in the Kurunegala electoral district, said he couldn’t obtain the support of Tamils and Muslims during the January presidential election as the two communities were under an “environment of fear” due to a “conspiracy”. Now, the communities have realised that there was no need to be apprehensive of the UPFA.
Interest of minoritiesThe former President added that he would ensure that the interests of the minorities would be safeguarded.
The manifesto stated that it had always been the position of the alliance that “Sri Lanka, with Sinhala Buddhists constituting majority, is a multi-racial and multi-religious country”. A law would be enacted for establishing a national reconciliation commission. All the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission would be implemented in one year, it stated.
On foreign affairs, the document stated that the UPFA would put the country’s ties with India and other Asian countries on “strong footing” and it would strive to have ties with countries across the world, instead of focusing on the Western countries.
It would build on the relationship with the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group and member-countries of the Non-Aligned Movement “which have always stood by Sri Lanka.”
Mr. Rajpaksa added that within six months, a new Constitution would be formulated, which would take care of electoral reforms and other issues.
