2 January 2024 06:20 am
When Sri Lanka stepped into 2023, uncertainty pervaded where the country was headed due to the challenges in the political, social and economic domains.
Now the New Year has dawned, but there is little for people to celebrate due to the economic woes exacerbated by the latest increase of the Value Added Tax (VAT). Coupled with challenges in the economic sphere, uncertainty prevails on the political front.
This is an election year in uncertain terms because the Presidential Election is scheduled to be conducted before October 17, this year, in terms of the Constitution. As such, the parties will gear up their political operations in 2024.
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), as a party, will launch a campaign to educate its rank and file in February. The party lost its ideological strength because the country went bankrupt under its rule, triggering the worst-ever economic crisis in post-independence Sri Lanka. The members of the party became helpless in the face of severe political criticism.
Now, the party will carry out an island-wide campaign to educate its members on the issues that led to the economic crisis so that they can have some ideological stance in countering or blunting such criticism.
In the meantime, the SLPP group that acts under the leadership of Kurunegala District MP Anura Priyadarshana Yapa announced yesterday that it would undertake the political campaign to back President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
MP Nimal Lanza who is the organizer of the group said he is certain about the conduct of the Presidential Elections.