The UNP trade union Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS) yesterday met in special session at Sirikotha and unanimously resolved to back the National Democratic Front’s (NDF) Presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena.
The head of UNP Trade Unions Joseph Michael Perera MP said that it was heartening to see all JSS members uniting as never before and pledging their support to Sirisena.
The JSS members obviously see a great future for them under a Sirisena- Ranil administration and that explained the large turnout here today, he noted.
Perera observed that the working class had been rejuvenated by the NDF Presidential candidate’s pledge to restore all the Independent Commissions including the Public Service Commission which President Mahinda Rajapaksa had unceremoniously abolished in the most unethical manner by bulldozing the 18th
Amendment to the Constitution through Parliament.
With Independent Election, Police, Bribery or Corruption, Finance and Delimitation Commissions also to be re-established under a NDF government, he said that there was sense of optimism for the future in the knowledge that democracy, good governance and the rule of law would prevail.
Perera noted that there had been unanimous approval for Sirisena’s manifesto which included key features such as:
* The introduction of a democratic constitution answerable to the people and providing for the first- past-the-post- electoral system with elements of proportional representation.
* Empowering the Central Bank to play its vital role in an independent overseer of the economy
* Ensuring that the judiciary and the Attorney General would no longer have to bow to the will of the all-powerful Executive.
* Guranteeing Media Freedom
* Establishing a Right to Information Law which would empower the citizen to have access to information that should be in the public domain as in a truly democratic country and
* Building a just, equitable and inclusive society where every citizen will have access to equal opportunities and co-exist in peace and harmony.
