SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has strongly opposed the forthcoming Value Added Tax (VAT) increase.

In a post on X, Premadasa has said that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be brought within the tax framework, financial services will be subject to higher taxation, and the digital economy will be incorporated into the VAT system.

He has noted that overall compliance obligations will also increase.

Premadasa has argued that these measures amount to “extortion” rather than reform, warning that it is not possible to tax an economy into growth.

He has said businesses need room to operate and survive, adding that if they are unable to do so, there will beventually be little left to tax.

Former Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday alleged that President Dissanayake’s declaration on the impending court verdict clearly indicated that he was aware of its outcome.

Addressing the media at Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Flower Road Office, Prof. Peiris said that the President’s direct intervention in the judicial process amounted to an attack on the very basis of the country’s Constitution. Emphasising that he dealt with the issue at hand, not as a politician but a law academic, Prof. Peiris said that a judge couldn’t, under any circumstances, discuss a verdict with a third party and behave in a manner to appease the public.The ex-lawmaker said that President Dissanayake has directly intervened in a case and brought pressure on a judge. How could the President ask the people to celebrate a particular judgement unless he was briefed of its outcome, Prof. Peiris asked.

Referring to relevant sections from the Constitution, Prof. Peiris stressed the responsibility on the part of the Supreme Court to take tangible measures to ensure the independence of the judiciary.

Prof. Peiris said that the Joint Opposition would soon write to Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena regarding the issue.

Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara yesterday said the Opposition, and various interested parties were trying to misinterpret President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s May Day speech.

Attorney-at-law Nanayakkara said so responding to The Island queries regarding concerns expressed by the Opposition and ‘Free Lawyers’ organisation. Declaring that the President had never interfered with the judiciary, under any circumstances, Nanayakkara said that there was no need for the NPP to do so.

The Minister added that obviously those who had been on the wrong side of the law were concerned of the outcome of the ongoing cases. “Media briefings, statements, etc., indicate they are struggling to cope up with the developing situation,” Minister Nanayakkara said, urging the public to be wary of those who robbed the country but now acted as paragons of virtue.

The Minister said that the Opposition was desperate and was seeking to exploit the President’s address to cause public uproar. If they hadn’t done anything wrong there was no need for them to worry so much, he said, adding that ongoing efforts to go on the offensive against the government would not succeed.