The public has granted the Government political power, but it has yet to gain full control over the State machinery, Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena said.
Addressing a youth conference organised by the Socialist Youth Union, Gunasena said the presidency, a 159-seat parliamentary majority and the Cabinet had given the administration the authority to govern. However, he maintained that control over the broader State apparatus could not be secured overnight.
All government policies and development projects are implemented through the State machinery, he said, adding that restructuring it in line with the administration’s objectives would require a transitional period.
“The present Government is now moving through that transformative phase,” he said.
Gunasena claimed that had power been seized through an armed struggle, as attempted in 1971 or 1988/89, political and State power could have been acquired simultaneously. However, gaining full control of the State machinery through a democratic transition would take time, he added.
He further claimed that this was the first instance in global political history in which a left-wing political movement had democratically assumed power and sought to lead a country towards development, leaving the Government without a past model to follow.
The administration’s principal challenge was therefore to steer the State machinery in the right direction and rebuild the country while remaining within the democratic framework, he said.
