By Rathindra Kuruwita

The Sri Lankan government has got a blank cheque from the IMF to do whatever it wants with regards to state owned assets, Nidahas Janatha Sabawa (NJS) MP Charitha Herath said in Colombo yesterday.Hearth said that the IMG agreement that the government presented to Parliament said that the government has agreed to reform 52 state institutions.

“However, we don’t know what they are. The IMF agreement also doesn’t clearly say what these institutions are. So, if the government wants, it can put SLT, SLIC or Litro into this category of 52 state institutions. Ranil has always wanted to sell state assets and this IMF agreement has given him a blank cheque to do whatever he wants,” he said.

Hearth said there are about100 MPs would vote for anything presented by Ranil Wickremesinghe. Their desire to hold onto power and the fear that people will attack them have made them yes men of the President.

“Now, Ranil can do whatever he wants with government MPs. They will agree to anything he says,” he said.

The NJS MP said that the government had drafted a concept paper on restructuring the electricity sector. “This concept paper has been deliberately leaked by the government,” he said.

“I suggest the government present this concept paper officially. Maybe Kanchana can Tweet it. Looking at the government’s behaviour, it is obvious that they want to strip the power PUCSL enjoys as the regulator for the electricity sector. There has to be a broad debate on this. Sri Lanka’s national grid and the transmission network are fully owned by the state and there are no private players. The concept paper recommends that the government change this. I think the government must explain what it wants to do with the power and energy sector,” the MP said.