In his Divali message to the nation, Prime Minister Patrick Manning has said his administration ’will persist’ in its ’emphasis that the light of discipline and high ethical standards permeate all aspects of national life’ .

’We will maintain our rejection of all ideas and approaches that have been responsible for the now heightened threat of calamitous consequences for all humanity,’ Manning said.

While not addressing any specific matter of national life, Manning used the imagery of Divali, the Hindu festival of lights being celebrated today, to assure the country that his administration was committed to the highest ethical standards.

’Your government will continue to do its best to ensure the ongoing contribution of our nation to a progressive and stable world. We will persist in our emphasis that the light of discipline and high ethical standards permeate all aspects of national life,’ Manning said.

Manning asked the nation to consider today’s national holiday in celebration of Divali in a much wider context such as the impact of the global economic downturn and climate change on this country.

’Problems spawned by the global financial crisis linger, stymieing individual and national development, creating the new poor, and pushing hundreds of millions back into conditions of poverty.

’The effects of climate change are becoming more acute with unprecedented natural disasters and increasing food and water shortages; and transnational crime, including terrorism, stretches nerves and resources in almost every country of the world,’ Manning said.

He added that ’it is only the light of co-operation that can save humanity from the cataclysmic consequences that will result if we do not deal with these problems’.

’Therefore, let all nations and each individual continue to cherish the reminder provided by Divali and all our other diverse religious observances, that it is character and values that truly determine the quality of our lives. Let us all, at this time, be instructed by the potent symbolism of the deya that, with very little material resources, we can each, with our inner essence, provide light wherever we are,’ Manning said.