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FSP accuses President of taking country on 1977 path to disaster

Published

3 years ago

2022/11/18

Thilina Walpola

Budget 2023

By Rathindra Kuruwita

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is all ot to reverse people’s hard-won victories, Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Pubudu Jayagoda says.

“Wickremesinghe talks about moves to introduce revolutionary changes to the country. His budget is anything but that. He repeats the criticism that progressive forces have been making for decades, but the solutions he has suggested are anti-people,” he said.The President is all out to destroy the welfare state and following in the footsteps of his uncle, JR Jayewardene, Jayagoda said.

“He is trying to usher in the reforms that Margaret Thatcher introduced.”

The 2023 budget proposals would even give the IMF economists a pause, the FSP stalwart said.

“The IMF has similar ideas but at least they pay lip service to the importance of maintaining basic social welfare mechanisms. Wickremesinghe’s proposals will destroy all low- and middle-income families,” Jagoda said.

“Wickremesinghe in his budget says that he wants the majority of Sri Lankans to benefit from economic development. Echoing leftists, he has claimed that there should be income redistribution.

“We must look at what he is doing. He quotes the Buddha and says that loans must be used for investments and not consumption. Leftists have been saying for decades that loans should be used to boost productive capacity. However, what have governments done since 1977? They have borrowed heavily and used them on white elephants. We have also built a lot of infrastructure but unlike in China, the infrastructure we built is not linked with factories. This infrastructure does not promote productive forces. President Wickremesinghe has been in Parliament for decades. He was a minister and prime minister for decades. He is now the President. Has he used loans for proper investments? He doesn’t practice what he preaches,” the FSP Education Secretary said.

When the country has hit rock bottom Wickremesinghe and his lackeys claim that we have taken too much debt and wasted it on consumption, he said. “The same people who borrowed like there is no tomorrow have suddenly discovered that borrowing like gambling addiction is bad. However, Wickremesinghe doesn’t tell us what his plans for developing and expanding the manufacturing capacity is,” he said. Jayagoda said that the budget proposal has nothing to build confidence among investors and producers. The small and medium scale investors are in serious trouble and they have been begging for relief for months, Jayagoda said.

“Wickremesinghe wants to give tax concessions to multinationals, and he wants to undermine local manufacturing. Wickremesinghe talks about building infrastructure and facilitating investors. However, his budget has nothing for SMEs that employ millions,” he said. Jayagoda said that the government also plans to fast-track free trade agreements. This will be done while weakening the local industries, he said.

“The workers of Sri Lanka have won certain rights after making enormous sacrifices. Wickremesinghe wants to destroy all that. Soon all laws that protect workers’ rights will be abolished. Taxpayers will have to pay for workers that are fired by private companies. Even if the government takes away all the laws that protect workers, investors won’t come here. There are no labour laws in the poorest countries in the world, are investors running there? China is increasing wages and rights, but companies still go there, even after America’s ttempts to undermine China,” he said.

Jayagoda said that the government also wants to open agricultural land to the market. Right now, large swaths of farming lands can’t be sold. If farmers are allowed to sell land, at a time like this, a few companies will buy up a lot of land for a song and farming will collapse, he said.

“Wickremesinghe talks about selling state owned enterprises. He talks about selling SriLankan airlines, Insurance Corporation, Sri Lanka Telecom, Hilton and Waters Edge. Apart from SriLankan airlines, all the others make enourmous profits. SriLankan was destroyed by a henchman of Mahinda Rajapaksa. When Ranil was prime minister in the Yahapalana Government, they appointed a commission on SriLankan airlines. Now he can implement the commission recommendations,” he said.

The budget also takes steps to privatise education and health. There is a lot of inequality in Sri Lanka and people still have some upward mobility because of free education and healthcare, Jayagoda said.

“Ranil plans to take the country on the same path it had been travelling since 1977. We have had nothing but disaster since 1977. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing expecting different results,” he said.

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PM on inspection tour of newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand

Published

16 hours ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

The Colombo Central Bus Stand, which has a history of over six decades and had remained without a proper maintenance for many years, has now been renovated under the current government’s development programme and vested to the public. Following that, the Prime Minister undertook an inspection tour of the newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand.

Originally constructed in 1964, the bus stand was refurbished with modern facilities to meet current needs and was officially reopened to the public on April 8. The primary objective of this initiative is to provide passengers with a higher-quality and more comfortable transportation service.

During the renovation process, special attention has been given to the comfort and safety of women, which was commended by the Prime Minister. In particular, a modern rest area designed to ensure privacy for nursing mothers travelling from distant areas received special praise.

The Prime Minister also reviewed the newly introduced passenger seat reservation system and information services established to assist commuters. In addition, the modern surveillance unit and other security measures installed within the premises to ensure passenger safety were also inspected.

During the visit, the Prime Minister engaged in conversations with passengers at the bus stand and inquired about their views on the newly renovated facilities and the quality of transport services.

It was emphasized that the government’s objective is to transform public transportation into a safe, technologically advanced service that can be used with convenience by all citizens.

(Prime Minister’s Media Division)

Latest News

Sun directly overhead Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon today (10)

Published

16 hours ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from the 05th to 15th of April in this year.

The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (10th) are Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon.

News

Opposition tells Minister Kumara Jayakody to resign

Published

17 hours ago

2026/04/10

Thilina Walpola

Prof. Peiris

No-faith motion to be taken up today

Former Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday (9) said that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake should remove Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody unless the minister stepped down on his own.Prof. Peiris, addressing a press conference called by the Opposition, said that Jayakody couldn’t under any circumstance continue to serve as a minister after the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) moved the Colombo High Court against the government member over a previous financial scandal.

Pointing out that Minister Jayakody had been indicted of a corrupt deal struck during the yahapalana regime, Prof. Peiris said it was wrong for the NPP to retain him as a minister, claiming that the offence was not committed during his tenure as a Cabinet minister in the current government.

Prof. Peiris and several other Opposition members dealt with the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Jayakody that would be taken up today (10) with the academic calling the vote an acid test for the NPP. Having campaigned on an anti-corruption platform at presidential and parliamentary polls, the NPP couldn’t protect Jayakody though he was widely believed to be close to President Dissanayake.

As the Manager of the Procurement and Import Division of the Ceylon Fertilizer Company, Jayakody is alleged to have committed the offence of corruption, according to CIABOC.

Jayakody has been accused of causing a loss of Rs. 8,859,708 to the State by influencing and exploiting the procurement process.

Following the serving of indictments on 27 March, the judge ordered Jayakody’s release on two personal bail bonds of Rs. 1 million each. The court directed that the defendant’s fingerprints be obtained and a formal report be submitted. The case has been scheduled for a pre-trial conference on 6 May.

Prof. Peiris stressed that the CIABOC action against Jayakody is central to the NCM primarily moved over the irregularities ridden coal procurement process launched in 2025 that caused severe disruption to the power generation. Responding to The Island query after the media briefing, Prof Peiris expressed surprise that the JVP/NPP accommodated a person under investigation by the CIABOC. Having taken an utterly irresponsible decision, the JVP/NPP were now playing down the developing issue, prof. Peiris said.

The entire government parliamentary group faced the prospect of having its image tarnished by defending Jayakody, the former lawmaker said.

Prof. Peiris said that they intended to build a campaign around the issues involving the energy minister to expose the government. With yet another electricity tariff hike in the offing due to the growing demand for thermal generation as a result of coal-fired Lakvijaya power plant’s failure to meet the requirement[RA1] , the energy minister and ministry’s performances have to be examined, Prof. Peiris said.The timely release of the Auditor General’s report on controversial coal procurement should compel the government to decide on the energy minister’s fate or be prepared to face the fallout.

By Shamindra Ferdinando