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| Sunday, 30 April 2006 |
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Politics |  |
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Party leaders support President, reject terrorism All political parties representing parliament declared their unstinted support to President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday at the All Party Conference in the President's resolve to overcome terrorism and usher peace through negotiations. All political parties leaders placed their signatures to a joint statement at the conclusion of the conference for the first time endorsing the stand taken by the President to restore normalcy and the country and usher peace through a negotiated settlement to the ethnic crisis. The party leaders unreservedly rejected acts of terrorism, the brutal murders and other forms of violence used as means to instill fear in the people, and thereby achieve political goals and objectives. "At this decisive moment, we declare with all responsibility that we shall act with unity and single-minded purpose against such efforts to intimidate and provoke our democratic society. Further, we declare our unstinted support to President Mahinda Rajapakse in his resolve to overcome terrorism and usher peace through negotiations", all leaders have stressed. The international community was called upon by political party leaders to assist them in the united action to protect the territorial integrity and democracy in Sri Lanka adding that all communities would be engaged in the governance of the country. The leaders also reiterated that the people of the country and the armed forces and the police deserved their undiminished praise for maintaining their commitment to peace,non-violence and discussion in the face of extremely ruthless provocations, including the most outrageous suicide bomb attack on the Commander of the Army, employing a pregnant mother. The joint statement further stated: "We make this united appeal before all Sri Lankans who value peace and look forward to achieving it with dignity; and before all peoples, governments and organisations of the world that value and lay stress on human freedom and democracy. It is also our conviction that solutions to the differences should be sought through non-violence and the consensus of our people. It is our firm belief that differences that arise among different communities of our country and the various streams of political opinion should be resolved through the democratic process of discussion directed towards peace. We shall also not allow our political differences to obstruct the protection of human freedom that is most cherished. We have also observed with deep regret, the several attempts by certain sections of the foreign media to blatantly distort the truth in relation to the incidents that have taken place in our country and thereby damage the image of our people. We vehemently deplore and condemn these practices and urge such sections of the media to act with responsibility and integrity. Our appeal to all our beloved people who favour peace is to respect law and order, maintain peace within the country, and to act with restraint. |
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