NC to meet soon to discuss National Road Map | Sunday Observer

NC to meet soon to discuss National Road Map

25 September, 2022

State Minister of Mass Media Shantha Bandara told the Sunday Observer yesterday that the newly formed National Council (NC) would meet soon to discuss a National Road Map for Sri Lanka.

The National Road Map will include strategic development plans based on dynamic national policy-making in all sectors, including economic, health, industrial, business, energy and food.

“We are truly grateful to all political parties, including the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), for participating in the Council to serve the National Council,” Shantha Bandara said.

The country has crumbled due to successive governments’ failure to develop a national economic policy, he said.

The State Minister said this must be understood by now, and everyone must work together to implement a development road map for the country based on national policy.

In response to a question from the Sunday Observer whether the members of the Parliamentary National Council would have to consider the recommendations of agencies, such as the International Monetary Fund, in making national monetary policies, he said, “Yes, it will be important that everyone takes into account the reality.”

“We must rise from where we stand now, not from elsewhere,” he said.

He said that the National Council in Parliament would discuss constitutional amendments, the electoral system, and the national economy.

When asked if the National Council was formed to appease members of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the Opposition who did not receive ministerial or state ministerial portfolios, Bandara said that the Council was President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s idea.

“The idea of forming an All-Party Government did not materialise,” he said, “The National Council is now there to work in unison.”

The country needs a National Road Map that looks forward to 2040 or even 2047 to become a fully developed country.

Despite political differences, the national policies agreed upon by all political parties will serve the country well, he said.

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