President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that it was the United National Party that had taught the past lesson of disregarding party colour, race or religion and united everyone in the country, and its aim for the future too is to unite everyone for the sake of the country.

The President said that although he won’t ask anyone to join the UNP, he invites everyone to unite without delay in order to rebuild the country.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said this while addressing the Anuradhapura District Development Council held at the Anuradhapura Golden Mango reception Hall today (21).

Provincial public representatives and government officials representing the United National Party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and Sri Lanka Freedom Party attended the meeting which was called to review the development activities of the district and discuss future plans.

Expressing his views further the President said, “I came to Anuradhapura for the first time after assuming office. It is a tradition. We go to Kandy to receive the blessings of the sacred tooth relic. Similarly, I have come to Anuradhapura to receive the blessings of the Sacred Sri Maha Bodhiya.

Anuradhapura was the capital of the Rajarata Kingdom. This is our beginning. We want to create a society that suites the 21st century. We cannot forget our civilization that started here with those activities. We must keep this in mind and move forward. Yesterday I worshiped at all eight religious sites and all the Chief monks invoked blessings upon me. I extend my sincere respectful gratitude to them.

Looking at the Anuradhapura district, I feel that we need to do more in this province. We want to make Anuradhapura and Kandy a major tourist center in this country. Tourists who come to this province finish their trip in half a day.

It takes about a week to visit the ancient Egyptian kingdoms from the Nile Valley. But they don’t spend half an hour at our ancient sites. We need to change this. Anuradhapura is a sacred city in one sense.