Opposition Leader appeals for support to throw out Govt.

Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa appealed to all parties to support them to speedily throw out the current Government, which he said had become the bane of the entire country.

By Sandun Jayawardena

Speaking in Parliament during the debate on the Second Reading of the Budget today (12), Mr Rajapaksa claimed that they could not allow this Government to continue any longer, adding that it has deceived the people and proved itself to be incompetent, corrupt and insensitive.

"We should not bear this any longer," he insisted. 

He produced a list of 22 infamous “achievements” of the so-called economic experts of the current Government, including allegedly causing a Rs 1000 billion loss to the economy through the Central Bank bond scam, recording the lowest economic growth of 3 percent in 2018; the lowest since the country’s economy recorded a negative rate in 2001, and managing to double the debt burden imposed on the people within four years.

The Opposition Leader further took issue with Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s Budget Speech where he heaped blame on the 52-Day Government headed by Mr Rajapaksa for the current dismal financial situation of the country.

“By saying so, he tried to shift the blame for this tragedy not on the shoulders of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was PM for 1464 out of 1516 days from January 8, 2015 to March 5, 2019, but on me, who only held the position for 52 days,” he remarked.

He further noted that his Government could only function without any legal impediment for a period of just 19 days from October 26, 2018 to November 14, 2018, when the Supreme Court suspended the President’s step to dissolve Parliament.

“As such, we were unable to carry out our economic plans, which we implemented so successfully from 2006 to 2014. Though even in this position, we were still able to provide some relief for the people, including the reduction of certain taxes,” Mr Rajapaksa said, pointing out that fuel prices were reduced on two occasions and re-implementing the fertilizer subsidy, among others