By Cyril Wimalesurendre
KANDY – Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) decision to establish an all-party administration in the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) was devoid of any ulterior motive, SLMC leader and Urban Development, Water Supply and Drainage Minister Rauf Hakeem said in Kandy yesterday (09).
Minister Hakeem was speaking to media after calling on the prelates of Malwatte and Asgiriya temples to mark his assumption of office at the new ministry.
The SLMC invited other the parties including the TNA to join hands with it to from the administration of the eastern provincial council to forge unity in the province in keeping with the policy of the present government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Minister Hakeem said.
Those two leaders were keen to form a national government which was the most appropriate form of administration for the country, the minister said.
The SLMC leader added that no sooner had he left the previous government than the state media attacked him very unfairly.
The Mahanayake Theras blessed the minister.