Only Parliament has the power to enact laws for One Law One Country
2 November 2021 08:27 pm
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Only Parliament has the power to enact laws pertaining to 'One Country One Law' and not Presidential Task Forces, UNP Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene said today.
Wijewardene who was speaking during a special program held at the UNP headquarters Sirikotha said the responsibility of implementing the ‘One Country One Law’ concept did not lie with a Presidential Taskforce.
“President went on to establish a Taskforce for One Country One law which is a prime example of exploiting such divisions. Not only has he had antagonized the Muslim community and the judiciary, he has also insulted the Tamil community by not appointing a single Tamil national into the task force and has ignored the second largest community in Sri Lanka. It is the legislature that endorses laws in this country. It is the duty of Parliament to enact legislation pertaining to One Country One Law. That responsibility does not lie with the Presidential task force. Let us hope the festival of lights will help end the President's ignorance," Wijewardena said.
"A true Leader unites all communities under one flag. This is what our founder leader late D. S Senanayake did by forming the United National Party. As a country who needs to overcome this crisis we should stand as one,” Wijewardene said.
“Sri Lanka is blessed with natural beauty, resources, history, traditions and cultural diversity. However, in the recent past, we have exploited our natural resources for personal economic gain and exploited our cultures and religious diversities for political power and patronage. Whilst world leaders including President Gotabaya Rajapaksa are discussing climate control in Glasgow COP 26 summit, it is sad for me to say that the last two years have faced the most destruction of our environment. According to the Center of Environment and Major Studies, the year 2020 saw the largest devastation in the history of our country. It is estimated that Sri Lanka has lost ten acres of forest lands on a daily basis from January to December last year 2021 is not better as we had ecological disasters with Xpress pearl. We are still unable to estimate the damages to our marine life,” Wijewardena said. (Yohan Perera)