UNP will devolve power without dividing country - Ranil

Vavuniya Group Correspondent

The United National Party promises to devolve power without dividing the country. All Sri Lankans belonging to all ethnic groups would have the equal opportunity to travel to any part of the country without any hindrance, UNP Presidential Candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe said. Addressing a rally in Vavuniya, the UNP Leader said that he intended to implement the agreement reached in Oslo with the approval of the people of this country.

He said since they were defeated at the 2004 General Election, the peace process has remained stagnant and the JVP was vehemently opposed to the Ceasefire Agreement reached by the Sri Lanka Government with the LTTE. "When we signed the CFA we had lots of hope in bringing peace to the country.

Only part of the agreement has come into effect. No more gunfire and gunshots are heard but, that is not enough. We want more than that, a final solution to the ethnic strife.

But before we could work on it, the Government was dissolved and the UPFA Government has failed to take even one step further from where the UNF had stopped," he added.

He said in addition to the ethnic strife, the tsunami was another catastrophe the country had to face and we have still have not learnt a lesson from it to work together to resolve our national, economic and other social problems.

"When I take over as the next President of this country, I will proceed with the peace process, work to alleviate poverty, provide houses to the tsunami victims and projects will be implemented to develop the country." He also promised to set up a new Ministry to look for the needs of the displaced.

Wickremesinghe said the time is very conducive to begin peace talks once more, because there is constant fear in the minds of people of all communities - whether they would ever be able to live in peace. What we must try to do is to allay their fears and introduce a new administration system similar to those found in the developed world.

"The world community is ready to support us, if we genuinely work towards achieving peace and provide an opportunity to all to live in peace and dignity. We propose to introduce a federal sort of administration, as that system of administration seems to be the best for now," Wickremesinghe added.