(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –The Select Committee of Parliament to Study and Report to Parliament its Recommendations to Ensure Communal and Religious Harmony in Sri Lanka, commenced the implementation process of the Select Committee recommendations, at its meeting at the Parliamentary complex yesterday. The recommendations were compiled after obtaining public views on establishing lasting peace in the country.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Select Committee Chairman and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa as well as Select Committee members, relevant line ministers, ministry secretaries and other officials participated in the meeting.
Each recommendation in the Select Committee Interim Report was discussed in length, whereby each line ministry committed itself to the implementation plan.
The participants endorsed the implementation plan as a viable process to bring about lasting peace and reconciliation in the country.
The members of the Select Committee and line ministers pointed out that some of the recommendations were already being implemented, some others would be implemented immediately and the rest would be implemented after future discussions. It is noteworthy that the Select Committee members and line ministers showed common consensus in the urgency to implement the recommendations.
Attention was also drawn on the Diyawanna Declaration of the Select Committee, which was adopted in view of the April 21 Easter Sunday attacks.
The Declaration specifically highlighted the role of political leaderships in bringing about sustainable communal and religious harmony while disregarding political divisions.
It is also noteworthy that yesterday’s meeting brought the ruling and opposition party members to a consensus regarding the Diyawanna Declaration. Noting the success of the meeting, the Speaker expressed gratitude to President Maithripala Sirisena for his blessings on the road to accomplishing communal and religious harmony and thanked the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa for their active participation, highlighting that the future generations would reap the dividends of the consensus arrived at this historic occasion.
