Country needs strong leadership - Vasu

by P. Krishnaswamy

The country needs the strong leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and he should not be debarred from becoming the Head of State due to restrictions on the number of terms he could serve, as stipulated under the present Constitution, leader of the New Left Front (NLF) Vasudeva Nanayakkara MP told the Sunday Observer.

The NLF and other leftist political parties which are constituents of the UPFA expressed their views on constitutional amendments, and added that they would support the abolition of the Executive Presidency which bestows special powers on President Rajapaksa as Executive President, he said.

As Executive Prime Minister he would forego immunity from legal action and will work with Parliament thereby further strengthening democratic norms, Nanayakkara said.

Asked as to what he considered as the right solution to the Tamil problem, he said that they have expressed their desire on the implementation of the 13th Amendment sans devolution of police and land powers which could be taken up for consideration later.

Commenting on the recent dissolution of the Colombo Municipal Council, he said that he became a Councillor in 2006 and found that the last administration was corrupt and teeming with irregularities and malpractices.

There were rampant illegal transactions of funds and the resolutions passed by the Council were also supportive of such activities and negated tender procedures. We protested each time such resolutions were tabled, Nanayakkara said.

They also brought it to the notice of the President and other relevant authorities. The Mayor and Councillors who worked with him had been found guilty.

They should be dealt with under the law - the Commission to Investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and the police, Nanayakkara said.