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By Sandun Jayawardana  

Amid a parliamentary boycott by the main Opposition parties, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday (22) defended his Government’s efforts to manage the country’s economic crisis, while also renewing his call for all to come together to rebuild the nation.

Giving a detailed briefing on the state of the nation, the Premier renewed his appeal for unity. Since taking office, Mr Wickremesinghe has been giving a fortnightly update on the economic crisis and measures being taken to address it. The move has come in for praise from some quarters and ridicule from others, the PM acknowledged.  

“Some criticise me by asking ‘Did he accept the premiership to merely tell us the hardships faced by the country?’ However, many others are grateful that we are telling them the whole truth and they have come forward to present various proposals that would perhaps help us overcome these issues,” he stressed.

He called on both groups to come together to join the nation’s rebuilding process. “Let us all embark on this journey together. Only by doing this will we be able to ensure the country’s recovery.”

The country is now facing a far more serious situation beyond mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity and food, Mr Wickremesinghe said, noting that the most serious issue today was that the entire economy “has faced a complete collapse.”

He also briefed the House on the status of the ongoing discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Sri Lanka intends to enter into a staff-level agreement with the IMF by the end of July; with the Government working together with teams from financial and legal advisory firms Lazard and Clifford Chance to try and complete the framework for a debt restructuring plan before the end of July.

Parallel to this, he said the Government was also going ahead with plans to organise a credit aid conference which would be led by India, Japan and China — Sri Lanka’s main lending countries. “However, there have been some conflicts and disagreements between us in the recent past. We are working towards resolving these and fostering friendly relations once again. Each country has different processes for granting loans. Through the credit aid conference, we hope to arrive at a general consensus on the lending processes,” he noted.

“If we receive the IMF seal of approval, the world will once again trust us. It will help us to secure loan assistance as well as low-interest loans from other countries,” the premier opined.

He said the Government was also holding talks with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United States, other friendly nations and heads of states to secure interim short-term loans till the country obtained IMF support.

Addressing the prevailing dire fuel shortage, Mr Wickremesinghe pointed out that Sri Lanka was in need of USD 550 million to meet its monthly fuel needs. “However, in the face of the economic crisis, we are experiencing difficulties in securing the necessary funds for this purpose. As a result, we will take steps to import the maximum fuel stocks possible based on our dollar income. Resolving the fuel shortages will take more time. Therefore, I request you to economise when using fuel.”

The Premier urged the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and the National People’s Power (NPP) to end their boycott of Parliament and extend their support to push through the proposed economic and political reforms in Parliament.

The SJB and the NPP were absent when the PM delivered his speech as they had walked out of Parliament on Tuesday, accusing the Government of not discussing the pressing problems faced by the people with a view to finding a solution.

The President and the Prime Minister had both proved a failure and had not been able to offer solutions to pressing problems faced by the people, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa told Parliament on Tuesday, accusing the Government of turning the legislature into a mere “talking shop.”

He questioned the purpose of convening Parliament when it was not ready to discuss the immense suffering the people were undergoing. “We will not be a party to the charade being carried out by this Government. We have stood with the people in the past. We will stand with them now and will do so in the future,” Mr Premadasa said before the opposition staged a walkout.

NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the Government urgently needed to present a roadmap outlining short-term solutions to problems faced by the people and how it intended to steer the country out of this crisis. “The Government needs to stop playing political games and not delay presenting such a roadmap. Further Parliamentary discussions were useless unless such a roadmap was presented,” he argued.

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara and National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa, too, severely criticised the Government over its failure to resolve people’s issues but did not join the boycott.

“If the Government has no solution to reduce all these queues, then we should stop convening Parliament until a solution is found. People keep expecting a solution each time Parliament convenes, but that is the job of the President and the Cabinet,” Mr Jayasekara said.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Business Committee which met on Tuesday decided to curtail this week’s sittings to two days owing to the prevailing fuel crisis. Parliament was originally scheduled to sit from June 21 to 24.