Sri Lankan lives matter – Sajith

Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa reminded the government yesterday that ‘Sri Lanka Lives Matter’ and that the government must immediately listen to health professionals.

Premadasa said that the pandemic raged and that the general consensus was that the government had given up. He added that a recent WHO study stated that 18,000 more people would die if the government did not act decisively.

The Opposition leader said that one of the first things the President had done was to give tax cuts to the super-rich. They had reduced the government revenue and is one of the main reasons for the current economic calamity, he said. As the government ran out of funds, it had to increasingly rely on money printing and loans, Premadasa said.

“The government cited economic reasons when medical experts asked for a lockdown. The economy is important. But why are traders shutting down shops voluntarily? Shop owners really do not like to close their shops. They have done this for two reasons, one is that they are worried for thier lives and secondly, they have shutdown because economic activities have dwindled although the country is officially open. Soon factories will be open but there will be no workers,” he said.

The leader of the Opposition said that the government was trying to convince the people that these traders are SJB or JVP members. However, most of the towns that had imposed a voluntary lock-down are SLPP strongholds, he said.

“Either this is a genuine peoples movement or the voter base of the government has collapsed. I personally think it’s both,” he said.