Every public officer should have the Mahinda Chintana text as a table top manuscript, for it contains vision and strategy on every aspect of the nation building, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga has said.
He has said this in a meeting with state officials and people’s representatives at the Southern Provincial Council’s event.
This statement coming form President’s secretary at a time of a Presidential election could be seen as indirect propagation of Rajapaksa election campaign. Lalith Weerathunga is a high level public officer who is legally bard form doing political campaigning.
Further directly promoting Rajapaksa as a political leader Mr. Weerathunga has said that ‘the Mahinda Chintana is the development vision of the nation. It guides the state service on the development mission in the country. Working under a leader with a vision and mission enhances job satisfaction among public servants. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is the only national leader that the country has with a firm and farsighted vision and mission for a brighter future of the country, ‘
His speech was reported in detail in the government mouth piece the Ceylon Daily News.
Criticising other political parties he has said that ‘the country came across election manifestos presented by political parties on successive election periods in the long political past of the country. Election pledges printed on low-priced substandard papers were published for the purpose of making opportunistic promises aimed at gaining state power. Subsequently after every election all such printed promises were soon forgotten by the public and as well as the publishing parties of the same also.Mahinda Chintana presented before the country in 2005 was not a mere collection of election pledges. It put forward a national vision for overall progress of the country. It was tendered to the public in the form of a national document on future progress and prosperity of the country. After gaining power, Mahinda Rajapaksa administration employed it as the Handbook of State Policy.’