Daily Times

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has insisted that the fight against corruption will continue in the island nation even as a new united government began work on Tuesday.Addressing the Sri Lankan parliament which convened for the first time after the Aug. 17 parliamentary elections, Sirisena said he will continue the work that he had begun when he took office after the Jan. 8 presidential election. He further said that it is in the hands of the new parliament to decide on the executive presidential system.

“My government will continue to crackdown on corruption and punish those who exploit national resources no matter who they are and there will be no political interference in the appointment of officials”, he said while addressing the MPs in parliament. The president added that the new government would focus on a Asia centric foreign policy and would look to maintain good relations with all the countries.“We need the support of the international community.” He also extended an open invitation to Sri Lankan professionals working overseas to return to the country and contribute to Sri Lanka’s economy. Sirisena arrived in parliament to ceremoniously inaugurate the sessions and was greeted by the new speaker of parliament Karu Jayasuriya.

Earlier on Tuesday, 225 members took oaths before the speaker to convene parliamentary sessions after the ruling United National Party (UNP) led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe won the parliamentary poll to form a new government. The UNP defeated the main opposition United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) by winning 106 seats while the UPFA won 95 seats.New parliament: Sri Lanka’s new parliament convened for the first time on Tuesday after the ruling United National Party (UNP) won a parliamentary election last month.

Senior UNP member, Karu Jayasuiya was elected as the speaker of parliament after his name was proposed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and seconded by the opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) member Nimal Siripala de Silva. The newly-elected 225 members of parliament later took oaths before the new speaker and convened parliamentary sessions.

The UNP, led by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe defeated the main opposition United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) by winning 106 seats in the parliamentary elections held on Aug. 17. The UPFA whose prime ministerial candidate was former President Mahinda Rajapakse won 95 seats while the main Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won 16 seats.The SLFP, who is the biggest partner in the UPFA coalition, has decided to work together with the UNP in the new parliament after both parties signed an MoU last month to form a united government. The SLFP and UPFA are led by President Maithripala Sirisena.

Despite the united government concept, a new cabinet is yet to be sworn in after conflicts have arisen over ministerial portfolios with both the SLFP and UNP demanding powerful ministerial posts. It had been proposed that the UNP will maintain 30 portfolios and the SLFP 15. However a group of UPFA members, including Rajapakse, have opposed the united government policy and will sit in the opposition in parliament.