Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena praised government minister and general secretary of the JHU Champika Ranawaka, calling him an “intellectual” who would “take the country forward”.
Speaking at the launch of Mr Ranawaka’s book last week, Mr Sirisena thanked the minister for his support in the presidential elections and in helping “make the transformation required by the country and usher in a new era”.
The president went on to say “the knowledge and experience of the intellectuals such as Minister Champika Ranawaka would help take the country forward”.
Mr Ranawaka is currently the minister of technology and research in Sri Lanka and general secretary of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a Sinhala nationalist party led by Buddhist monks.
Last week Mr Ranawaka vowed that “federalism will never be given to the North” and stated “we will never support a federal solution”. He also recently pledged to ensure “national security is in the forefront of everything”.
See our earlier post:
‘LTTE will never be allowed to regroup’ says Sri Lankan minister (09 Aug 2015)
'Federalism will never be given to North' says government minister (06 Aug 2015)
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