COLOMBO ; Direction Sri Lanka has sent out a message to legislators to carefully choose a president who could fulfil the wishes of the people at these trying times.
In a circular to all MPs, the Direction Sri Lankan has set out a set of guidelines for the purpose.
“ Sri Lanka is currently going through the worst economic and political crisis since independence. Every segment of the citizenry is adversely affected. This situation without doubt is due to the misrule, corruption and the total failure of good governance by the popularly elected leaders specially in the last several years.
A peaceful and mostly nonviolent uprising by the people, especially the youth, resulted in the resignation of the President, Prime Minister, several other Ministers and Officials considered responsible for this unacceptable state of affairs.
Following the resignation of the President, it is a matter of extreme urgency that a new President is elected and a stable government established to manage the recovery process. The onus and responsibility of filling the vacancy by electing a successor President has been placed on the Members of Parliament, by the Constitution. It is a responsibility that each Member of Parliament is required to perform for and on behalf of all people of this country, as their elected representatives.
In this context, we are greatly perturbed and wish to place on record our disappointment and displeasure concerning the fact that Parliament has been unable to select a person by consensus. From the information in the public domain, it appears that at present, there are no less than four persons who aspire to be elected to this office and that such nominations are being made along party lines.
In our view, the election of a President of the Republic at this critical juncture based on party affiliations for reasons of political expediency or political survival, is totally unacceptable. In the context of the recent events and the peoples’ aspirations, we consider that certain matters are of paramount importance, when electing the President of the Republic. It is imperative that the person to be elected as President of the Republic should be a person;
We request the Members of Parliament to be mindful that as demonstrated by the recent events, mere constitutional legitimacy of a person elected to the high office of the President of the Republic is insufficient to gain the acceptance and confidence of its people and the person needs moral legitimacy to govern.
We therefore call upon each Member of Parliament to act with conscience, solely in the National Interest at this crucial juncture of our Country, forgetting all political and personal agendas and other interests, to ensure that the person most suitable and acceptable to the people, is elected (preferably by consensus) as the President of the Republic. The unflinching public attention is on each and every Member of Parliament at this critical moment of this Nation.”TEAM DIRECTION SRI LANKA
