By Rathindra Kuruwita
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) Dr. G. Weerasinghe said yesterday that the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration continued with the free market economy, which exacerbated the issues faced by the country and ultimately led to the present widespread anti-government protests.
Speaking on the mass protests that led to the resignation of the entire Cabinet of Ministers, Dr. Weerasinghe said that the CPSL warned the government that its economic policies were adversely affecting the people of the country and the economy in general.
“We started liberalising the economy a few decades ago. We allowed relatively free imports and exports because we thought we would be an export oriented economy. However, now we import a lot more than we export and the trade balance is widening. This has been happening for many years, I would say the last 25 to 30 years. We cushioned this gap with money from tourism, expat remittance and loans. With the pandemic, we lost tourism, expat remittance and now we can’t get easy loans,” he said.
The foreign reserve crisis had caused a shortage of essential goods and extended to power cuts, he added.
Eleven constituents of the government, including the CPSL, earlier this year had asked the President to appoint an interim government with the participation of all political parties represented in Parliament, Dr. Weerasinghe said.
“However, nothing was done until this week and it seems that the protesters are not ready to accept this. They want the President to go home,” he said.
Dr. Weerasinghe said that when the protestors chant ‘Gota Go Home’ they are criticizing the entire executive presidential system and the entire electoral process.
“First thing is to do the minimum that can be done and end the process. Then whoever takes over must work with all political parties to create a consensus on saving Sri Lanka from a serious economic, social, and political crisis,” he said.