UNP 60th anniversary today

COLOMBO: The UNP on the instructions of Party and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has planned an elaborate program to mark its 60th anniversary which falls on September 1.

The program which begins on September 1 with an all night pirith ceremony starting at 8 p.m. at Siri Kotha party headquarters will be continued till September 6, a release by Party's Deputy Leader Parliamentarian Karu Jayasuriya said.

Highlights of the rest of the program held at party headquarters will be as follows:

September 2: 10 a.m. - Sanghika dana and atapirikara pooja to 60 members of the Sangha,

September 4: 9.30 a.m. - Ceremony to commemorate past members who sacrificed their lives for the party cause.

September 6: 9.30 a.m. - a ceremony to honour 1,500 longstanding members of the party including the oldest living parliamentarian and party and trade union member.