“I appreciate and thank all political parties representing parliament today, for their ultimate consensus for joining the forward march,” the President further said.

Speaking further, President Maithripala Sirisena said there were false allegations that we had signed agreements to divide the country and the military will be withdrawn from the North. However, the people dismissed these false propaganda and trusted us, he said.

The President pointed out, there are both good and bad experiences throughout the history of the political parties of Sri Lanka. He also recalled that the country experienced decline due to misguided political concepts.

The people should look beyond the agendas of a political party and take a holistic national view. Hence, today we have to perform a historic task for our country’, the President added.

He said that although he was the General Secretary of the SLFP, he was elected with the support of the UNP. Hence, we have created a much broader scenario where the different political parties could sit together to discuss how best to serve the nation, President Sirisena said.

The President requested the political parties and the leaders to identity their duties and obligations to provide an efficient service to the country.