News

Interim government to meet crises needs correct policies

Published

4 years ago

2022/04/3

by PROF.TISSA VITARANA

The decision taken by the leaders of the Eleven Party Alliance to request that the President to forms and Interim Government is an essential first step towards solving the present crisis facing Sri Lanka. This interim Government needs to have correct policies to meet a crisis of this enormous magnitude. The interim government should not follow the policies that have aggravated the global economic crisis to such a scale in Sri Lanka. The immediate problems facing the suffering people such as the high price of food and food shortages, the shortages of essential medicines, fuel, gas and electricity have to be given priority. As mentioned by me last week the shortage of dollars is the principle factor. I like to stress once again that we should delay the settlement of loans and interest due for the next five years through a Moratorium. As we had to pay US dollars 6 billion last year to settle our loans, such a course will probably save about 30 billion dollars. This would enable us to immediately obtain the above mentioned essentials that are the main cause of the suffering of the people. I stressed that this has been done by several countries faced with similar economic crises in the past and even the present. The main policy of the SLPP Government not to do this but to somehow other pay back the loans on time will not provide the dollars that we badly need. The required change of attitude will not discredit us to the extent that the SLPP Government fears because, as mentioned earlier, this has been done in the past and even the present.

The above course of action will relieve the suffering of the people and bring back the confidence in the President and the interim government. The alternative that is proposed by the SLPP Government, UNP and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) of turning to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will only aggravate the problem. This is because the neoliberal policies that those parties favor were the main cause of the massive defeat of the Yahalapanaya Government. The IMF insists on the door being opened for the import of any goods and article from abroad, whether they be cheaper or more expensive than what we can produce. It was the massive importation of luxury and non-essential goods over a long period of time by several Governments, most of all the Yahapalanaya Government, that led to our Foreign Reserves dropping from the usual safe level of 7 to 8 billion US dollars to the present level of less than one billion US dollars that has aggravated the crisis to this massive level. The loss of our ability to purchase essential items like oil, gas, milk powder and flour will be overcome as soon as we turn to the Moratorium policy of settlement of loans for five years as mentioned above. Once the people’s needs are provided and the crisis overcome in this way there will be no need to tie up with the IMF. The latter course would mean that we have to get more loans and get further into debt. The problem of debt and interest repayment will continue to plague us. The correct policy of developing a national economy where we become self-supporting with regard to food and also develop value added industries (both small, medium and large) that was decided on by the SLPP Government, but not implemented, could also be done. Therefore it is essential that those in the Interim Government should not insist on the tie-up with the IMF and the resultant commitment to implement their policies.

Another very important step is that the Interim Government should properly revive the Cooperative Movement, both consumer and multipurpose. By ruining this the present major problem of high prices of food leading to hunger, starvation and malnutrition could be solve by eliminating the price rises which are due to the large number of middleman who profiteer at the expense of both the farmer and the consumer. This can be quickened by reviving the Marketing Department which can also directly purchase from the farmer and provide the consumer with food at a reasonable price, by only covering their expenses, without any profiteering as is done by private traders.

The next essential step that must also be taken is establishing value added industries (both SMEs and Large scale). The necessary science and technology funding should be provided, to do the required research. With a stable economy and a stable government it would be possible to attract foreign investment. In addition the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) proposal of introducing the principle of a Solidarity Economy should be put into effect. This principle has been adopted by several countries in Europe and in the third world, as well as the USA. A classic outcome is that it has helped both public and private loss making institution to become profitable ones. A good example is what happened in Kerala, India. There when TATA’s refused to give a salary increase to the workers on the premise that they were running at a loss, like the private plantations in Sri Lanka, the Left-wing Government took back the land from TATA’s and gave the ownership for a period of 30 years to the employees. The outcome is that the plantations are now running at a big profit to the benefit of both the employees and the Kerala Government.

During the SLFP/LSSP/CP Coalition Government (1970-1975) when faced with an equally severe crisis Dr.N.M.Perera, the LSSP leader, who was the Minister of Finance, was able to increase the Forex Reserves from 1.5 billion US dollars to 3.2 billion dollars, thereby ensuring adequate dollars to meet the cost of essential imports. Further he balanced the budget and took away the burden from the poor people, by reducing indirect taxes, and making up for this by increasing the taxation of the rich. He raised the highest tax slab for the super-rich to 75%. It is a crime to raise the VAT tax as the SLPP Government has done now by 2%, while maintaining the upper limit of tax for the super-rich at 14%. NM encouraged investment in the manufacturing industry by maintaining a very low tax level and any rich person could also get that benefit by investing there.

The LSSP, as a member of the Eleven Party Alliance supports the above policies if we are not only to have an Interim Government that puts the country back on the correct track, but also describes the policies that should be pursued if we are to get out of this severe crises and rescue our country and our people from poverty and its consequences. We shall give the President our fullest support in the setting up and functioning of this Interim Government. We hope that once there is some degree of stability General Elections will be held and a new Government formed that will get us out of the crisis, build national unity, and lead to the development of our country.

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News

Israel resumes attacks as Iran vows to avenge supreme leader’s death

Published

18 hours ago

2026/03/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

An explosion caused by an Iranian missile in Tel Aviv

* Iran begins 40-day mourning after Khamenei killed in US-Israeli attack

* President Pezeshkian condemns killing as ‘a great crime’

Iran has begun 40 days of mourning after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in ongoing attacks by the United States and Israel, according to Iranian state media.

Top security officials were also killed in Saturday’s strikes, along with Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson. The killings mark one of the most significant blows to Iran’s leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution Al Jazeera has reported.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the killing as “a great crime”, according to a statement from his office. He also declared seven days of public holidays in addition to the 40-day mourning period.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said people were pouring into the streets of the capital following the news of Khamenei’s killing.

“There will be expected ceremonies,” he said, noting they would likely take place amid continuing bombardment across the country.

Protests denouncing Khamenei’s killing were also reported elsewhere, including Shiraz, Yasuj and Lorestan.

“There will be expected ceremonies,” he said, noting they would likely take place amid continuing bombardment across the country.

Footage aired by Iranian state media showed supporters mourning at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, with several people seen crying and collapsing in grief, according to Al Jazeera.

The killing also led to protests in neighbouring Iraq, which declared three days of public mourning. In Baghdad, protesters confronted security forces in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses Iraqi government buildings and foreign embassies.

Videos verified by Al Jazeera showed demonstrators waving flags and shouting slogans, with witnesses saying some were attempting to mobilise towards the US Embassy. Footage also showed protesters blocking vehicles at a roundabout near one of the entrances to the area.

There was also a protest in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where footage, verified by Al Jazeera, showed people setting fire to and smashing the windows of the US consulate.

However, there have also been reports of celebrations in Iran, with the Reuters news agency quoting witnesses as saying some people had taken to the streets in Tehran, the nearby city of Karaj and the central city of Isfahan.

Meanwhile, the official IRNA news agency reported that a three-person council, consisting of the country’s president, the chief of the judiciary, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council, will temporarily assume all leadership duties in the country. The body will temporarily oversee the country until a new supreme leader is elected.

Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accused the US and Israel of trying to plunder Iran, in an interview aired on state TV.

He also called on Iranians to unite. “Groups seeking to divide Iran should know that we will not tolerate it,” he added.

Smoke rises over central Tehran following ongoing U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran yesterday.[EPA]

Khamenei assumed leadership of Iran in 1989 following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had led the Islamic revolution a decade earlier.

While Khomeini was regarded as the ideological force behind the revolution that ended the Pahlavi monarchy, Khamenei went on to shape Iran’s military and paramilitary apparatus, strengthening both its domestic control and its regional influence.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pledged revenge and said it had launched strikes on 27 bases hosting US troops in the region, as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv.

Explosions have continued to be reported in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while security alerts are in place in several countries across the region.

US President Donald Trump, in a social media post on Sunday, warned Iran that it would be hit “with a force that has ?never been seen before” if it retaliated.

Iran’s retaliatory attacks since Saturday have targeted Israel and US assets across multiple Middle East countries, including Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Harlan Ullman, chairman of the strategic advisory firm Killowen Group and an adviser to the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC, said the US may have made a “big mistake” by killing Khamenei.

“Decapitation only works when you get all the leaders, and I don’t think that we got all the leaders,” Ullman said, adding that the US should not expect Iran’s leadership to enter negotiations in the immediate aftermath.

Iranian state media reported on Saturday at least 201 people have been killed in the joint US-Israeli attacks across 24 provinces, citing the Red Crescent. In southern Iran, at least 148 people were killed and 95 wounded in a strike on an elementary girls’ school in Minab on Saturday, with the toll continuing to rise, according to state media.

News

CPC has enough fuel stocks

Published

18 hours ago

2026/03/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

There would be no delay in fuel shipments scheduled for April and May, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) assured yesterday.

Addressing a media briefing in Colombo, CPC Chairman D.J. Rajakaruna said Sri Lanka’s fuel supplies did not originate from the present conflict zone in West Asia and, therefore, supplies to the Corporation would not be disrupted.

He noted that the relevant consignments were due to arrive from India and Singapore as planned.

“We are making this statement responsibly. There is no need for the public to queue up for fuel. Distribution was not originally scheduled for Sunday (01), but due to increased demand, we have deployed all distribution staff to continue fuel issuance. Although Monday (02) is a Poya Day, fuel supplies will continue without interruption,” he said.

The Chairman added that all filling stations had been instructed not to dispense fuel into cans or barrels, warning that legal action would be taken against those attempting to purchase fuel in bulk containers for resale.

News

Lanka, Pakistan strengthen ties at 13th JEC

Published

18 hours ago

2026/03/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

Wasantha Samarasinghe, Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development and Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan for Industries and Production at the 13th Session of the Sri Lanka–Pakistan Joint Economic Commission in Colombo.

The 13th Session of the Sri Lanka–Pakistan Joint Economic Commission (JEC) was successfully held recently in Colombo, reinforcing the strong and longstanding economic and diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The Sri Lankan delegation was led by Wasantha Samarasinghe, Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development, while the Pakistani delegation was headed by Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan for Industries and Production. The session concluded with the signing of the Agreed Minutes by both Co-Chairs, formalising cooperation across multiple sectors.

The Pakistan High Commission in Colombo said that in the IT and digital economy, both sides agreed in principle to establish a Joint Working Group on IT and telecommunications, promote collaboration in emerging technologies, and support each other in international digital forums.

Industrial cooperation was a key focus, with discussions on expanding trade in chemicals, polymers, engineering goods, glassware, surgical instruments, and pharmaceuticals. Sri Lanka invited Pakistani pharmaceutical companies to explore investment opportunities in designated pharmaceutical zones. Both countries also agreed to strengthen collaboration in Export Processing Zones and enhance support for small and medium enterprises through their respective development agencies.

Significant progress was made in agriculture and livestock, including cooperation on meat exports, livestock farming, seed certification, sanitary and phytosanitary harmonisation, pest risk analysis, and capacity building. Procedures for the export of Sri Lankan pineapples and avocados to Pakistan were advanced. Both sides explored electronic phytosanitary certification (ePhyto), blockchain-based seed traceability systems, and increased trade in agro-commodities such as rice, sesame, and onions.

In education, the JEC emphasised academic and research cooperation, faculty and student exchanges, accreditation and quality assurance, and promoting Pakistan as a higher education destination for Sri Lankan students. A Joint Working Group on Education and Science was proposed, alongside renewal of several institutional Memoranda of Understanding.

Cooperation in science, technology, and innovation will continue under existing bilateral frameworks, with plans for joint research in advanced materials, biotechnology, climate change mitigation, and emerging technologies. Collaborative research projects, student exchanges, and co-authored publications were highlighted as key initiatives.

Health sector collaboration will focus on joint research, academic exchanges, regulatory cooperation on therapeutic goods, capacity building, fast-track registration of essential medicines, public-private partnerships, epidemiological surveillance, and coordinated responses to disease outbreaks.

Maritime cooperation was also discussed, with Pakistan offering technical expertise, training, and industrial collaboration through its shipbuilding institutions. Both sides explored enhanced maritime connectivity, including transshipment, port cooperation at Karachi and Gwadar, direct shipping routes, logistics integration, and maritime training programs.

Commerce secretary-level talks reviewed the progress of the Pakistan–Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (PSFTA), assessing current implementation and identifying measures to further enhance bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

On the sidelines, Special Assistant Haroon Akhtar Khan held discussions with Sri Lankan Cabinet members on collaboration in industry, labor and foreign employment, and health sectors.

Both delegations expressed satisfaction with the outcomes of the 13th JEC and reaffirmed their commitment to regular engagement and effective implementation of agreed initiatives. It was mutually agreed that the 14th session will be held in Islamabad, with dates to be confirmed through diplomatic channels.