President to forgo official events to celebrate first anniversary in office
July 15, 2023 07:38 pm
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has reportedly decided to do without special ceremonies to celebrate his first anniversary in office as the Head of State.
Accordingly, he has given stern instructions to respective officials not to organize any official events at the expense of the public to celebrate the completion of his first year in office.
The directives were given after taking into account the requests made by some officials to organize functions to mark the anniversary.
Wickremesinghe was elected the 8th Executive President of Sri Lanka to serve the remaining term of his predecessor, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after receiving 134 votes in a division held in the 225-member parliament on July 20, 2022. He then took oaths on July 21.
According to reports, the president has refused the proposals mooted by some officials to organize ceremonies to celebrate the event, stressing that such events should not be organized using public or private funds at a time when the country is recovering from the economic crisis.
Meanwhile, the president is scheduled to visit India on July 21 on an official visit.
