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by Rodney Martinesz in Mawathagama

UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday called upon the country to give him a strong Parliament in order to implement his vision for the nation.

Addressing an election propaganda rally in Mawathagama Wickremesinghe said that the new Parliament after December 5 will be vested with enhanced powers so that it would have a direct hand in governance.

He expects to assign specific functions to all 225 MPs of the new Parliament who will be expected to pull their weight or depart under a government of his leadership.

Its aim is to extinguish the three volcanoes namely the ailing economy, the prolonged war and the anarchist state.

But first of all the country has to be put back on its feet before embarking on an salvage programme. Discipline and order is vital for the success of any development plan. The first three months of the new government would be devoted to pull the country out of its collapsed state.

As a first step he would ensure that the rule of law prevails and the police would be given a free hand to act impartially through the Independent Police Commission.

"I have a plan, a vision for this country. I will generate new avenues of income and put more money in the hands of the people. My aim is to make people live."

He said industries which have been shut down or on the verge of collapse would be revived with financial assistance from Banks while tourism will be given similar assistance to restart business in time to attract the summer tourists in the year 2002.

Measures would be taken to remove the various surcharges now levied on the shipping and aviation industry and provide a boon to the export sector.

He would dispatch two Ministerial Delegations to the USA and Europe to persuade those countries to remove taxes on our garments so that the industry would not be affected when the Multi-Fibre Agreement comes into force in 2004.

The UNP leader said that his party was against a division of the country. They had no pact with the LTTE. They however believed that a solution to the present problem should be found through negotiations.

He said: "The President commenced talks with the LTTE which eventually collapsed. If we want permanent peace it can only be realised through a political solution acceptable to all parties."

"Therefore, we must hold talks. We must talk to the LTTE. This cannot be done by me. That is the work of the government. The UNP is only a political party.

Ranil said when the UNP takes over power they would start talks with the LTTE.

"Our aim is to evolve a solution acceptable to all communities while preserving the territorial integrity of the country."

"My aim is to unite the "Thri Sinhale" so that through this we could find a solution in keeping with reasonable expectation of the minorities and develop the country."

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