The Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Sri Lanka states that the nation needs a wise and courageous leader to make the long awaited system-change to eradicate corruption and its related ills.

Issuing a statement on Monday (26) pertaining to the 2024 Presidential Election, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference expressed that the presidential election candidates are solicited to desist from deceiving the voter by offering allurements, favours and making false promises, and to check on the organizers and supporters of their campaigns in this regard. 

“Those who violate election laws cannot be trusted to govern the country with integrity and justice”, the statement mentioned.

Thus, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Sri Lanka calls on all registered voters to cast their vote to elect the leader who would govern the country according to the democratic and moral principles based on the values of the four main religions in the Island, respecting also the cultural ethos of the people.

“As religious leaders, we invite the candidates vying for the Presidency to find inspiration in the sacred axiom of Jesus: “not to be served but to serve” (Mk.10:45). It is an invitation to put power into practice as service”, the statement added.

“We kindly appeal to all concerned to conduct a free and fair Presidential election and thereafter work towards a united Sri Lanka as we invoke God’s blessings upon our beloved motherland.”

“We call upon our dear faithful to pray intensely for the Nation and its well-being and for the wisdom needed for all our citizens to choose wisely, Sri Lanka’s next leader”, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference also said in the statement that the voter must display the desire to see that justice is meted out to the citizens after proper investigations into the robbery of the country’s assets, the politically motivated abductions, disappearances and killings of persons, the crimes committed during the protracted war in the North and East, the civil-unrest in the South and the senseless massacre that took place on Easter Sunday 2019 with a most horrendous bomb attack. 

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference said all those culpable must be found and dealt with according to the laws of the country and no one should be allowed to interfere in the process of seeking justice for the 274 victims killed and the 500 or so persons injured, some very seriously.