President pledges to build a free nation with ethnic concord

President Maithripala Sirisena said in Parliament yesterday that he is committed to build a free nation based on the principals of power sharing and amity between various communities, national reconciliation, strong economy and better relations with the rest of the world.

The President was speaking during the Committee stage debate on the Appropriation Bill 2016 on the financial Heads coming under his purview. "As promised, I was able to prune the many excessive powers of the Executive Presidency and bringing in the 19th amendment to the constitution", the President noted.