- Let Us Dispel the Darkest Era and Illuminate the World with the Lamp of Hope.
The dawn of Christmas 2025 arrives while we still carry in our hearts the painful experiences our nation endured in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah, which severely affected Sri Lanka. As a result of this cyclone, we lost much lives, property, livelihoods, and the hopes of our own people in our own country. Above all, what remains deeply etched in our hearts are the tears and suffering of those who lost everything they had.
Christmas, celebrated with great reverence to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is a time when hope is born amidst destruction. It marks the dawn of an era in which evil is dispelled and goodness prevails. Even in the darkest of nights, a light is born the light of hope.
In the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah, we must rise again as a nation through the unity, mutual cooperation, and humanitarian spirit of the Sri Lankan people, who came together with outstretched hands, transcending differences of race, religion, and language, unity that we witnessed and experienced firsthand. We must transform that unity into our greatest strength.
At this critical juncture, what we need is not politics rooted in division, but the collective effort to build a just and compassionate country, one that responds to the pain of its people and works steadily to shape the nation’s future. As a country, we will continue to face significant challenges. Therefore, learning lessons from this destruction and building a state that protects the vulnerable and ensures that no one is left alone in the face of disaster is our shared responsibility.
Christmas 2025 reminds us not only of what we have lost, but also of what we have not lost within ourselves, our compassion for one another, our willingness to stand together, and our faith in hope for tomorrow. With that faith, I firmly believe that Sri Lanka can rise again as a strong, just, and humane nation.
On this Christmas, I pray that it will be a season filled with peace, prosperity, harmony, unity, and renewed hope for Christian devotees and for all citizens of Sri Lanka and the world.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!
Sajith Premadasa,
Leader of the Opposition
