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“You resigned because you could not govern”: Sumanthiran tells ministers

Published

2 years ago

2022/04/10

Gota must go home, there’s no other way

By resigning at a time when people are suffering from immense economic calamities, the ministers have accepted that they are unable to govern the country, TNA MP, M.A. Sumanthiran said in Parliament on Thursday.

“What’s the situation in the country? The situation in the country is that the people can’t live – they have no food to eat, people don’t have fuel, children can’t go to school, they have come on to the streets; that’s the situation in the country.

“And then in order to handle that situation what has the government done? The government has resigned, all members of the Cabinet have tendered their resignations. Now what does that mean? That means, that they accept, they are unable to govern the country,” he said.

“However, some members of the government say that they still have the mandate to govern. If that is the case, why did the cabinet resign then”, he asked.

“Now having conceded that you have failed, you are now standing up here talking big. The country is in a very serious crisis – you must go! And when I say you must go – the leader must go. I mean, if after all of these days you have not understood what the people are saying, if you think that by removing the Minister of Finance or a state minister tendering his resignation with effect from May 1, or some other measure, that’s not sufficient,” he said.

Sumantiran said that there are serious issues with regard to the finances of the country. For a long time the government insisted that they will not go to the International Monetary Fund.

“However, you have eventually caved in and you have gone. And yesterday the IMF issued a statement, I am going to read it from the Reuters news report. It says “IMF staff is looking forward to programme discussions with the authorities including during the visit of the newly appointed Finance Minister to Washington later this month”.

Now where is the newly appointed Finance Minister? I mean the one most important post there must be in the government today, if you are to deal with the situation out there, if you are to deal with the dollar crisis, if you are to deal with the escalating prices, if you are to deal with the shortage of food, the shortage of Medicines – it is the Minister of Finance. And you don’t have a Minister of Finance. You have decided to go to the IMF but who is to go? You have brought this country to bankruptcy,” he said.

He added: “You have brought this country to bankruptcy. I am reminded of something that I learned as to the word “bankruptcy”. When in ancient Greece, when there were lenders in the market place, they sat on benches – “Banku” in Sinhala, that’s how the word came “Bankuwala wadiwela hitiya” they lent more than they could actually afford, at the end of the day when they did not have money to give back, people came, took that bench and broke it into two. “Bankus ruptus” that’s bankruptcy.

“So people have now come to take your chair, your throne – what you thought was the Rajapaksa throne – and they are breaking it into two. They are chasing you away from the government so the trader – the banker – the “Bankus ruptus” and he was chased away that’s what they are doing. Because you have made the country bankrupt.

“How did that happen? “Yes it happened over a long period of time; you borrowed. But the last trigger, the trigger that sent you down the slippery slope, from which you are unable to climb back up, happened in December 2019. When President Gotabaya Rajapaksa became the President and wanted to hold the parliamentary elections very soon, he thought ‘okay with this wind we will capture power, coming to parliament as well’ and announced a series of tax cuts. Lowered the rates of VAT, increased the threshold for income tax, corporate tax, etc.

“Now, the analysis shows that by one act alone 25% of the revenue to the country was lost. What is worse? 33% of the taxpayers got out of that tax net. And that is how everybody reckoned that you will not be able to meet the balance of payments; your ratings dropped, and today at the public finance committee it was confirmed that in April 2020 we were shut out of the financial markets – we were blacklisted.

“Two years ago, we were blacklisted, but you did not tell the people that. Your mismanagement, your eagerness to win the elections by giving freebees, sweeteners to the people, that caused it. Once you were shut out of the international financial markets, it was the slope from which you could never climb back.

“That’s why the country is in this situation. At least now the people have woken up. That’s why they are saying ‘Go Gota, go home’ that’s why they are calling on the President to go. Because it was the act of the President that triggered this collapse. He must go, if this is a democratic country, if you have ears to hear, then listen; anyone in the government ranks, if you actually have ears, tell your President to go. The Constitution has made provisions when the president resigns how the country will be governed. All that will happen. But until he goes people will not relent, I can tell you that.”

“This is not something that any political party has organized, and I must tell the Chief Government Whip not to try what President JR Jayewardene tried in 1983. Putting the blame on the left forces of the country, driving them back underground.

“That’s what happened to the JVP who had joined the mainstream by then, President Jayewardene said Naxalite forces, Vasudeva Nanayakara went underground, Vijaya Kumaratunga was arrested, JVP went underground.

“This morning, the Chief government Whip tried that with JVP, please don’t do that. No political party has done this. This is the People’s Movement; this is something unprecedented; this country has never seen this before. That is why you are in shock. This is happening organically and people will not relent until Gota goes home.

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Heat Index at Caution level in Northern, North-central, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern, Southern and North-Western provinces and Monaragala district

Published

6 hours ago

2024/04/25

Priyan

Heat index Advisory issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre At 4.00 p.m. 24 April 2024, valid for 25 April 2024

Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is expected to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern, Southern and North-Western provinces and Monaragala district.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED

Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

News

Two Indians recruiting Lanka’s ex-servicemen for Russia-Ukraine war

Published

9 hours ago

2024/04/25

Sahan Weerasooriya

Dayasiri

MP Dayasiri Jayasekera informs House:

By Saman Indrajith

Parliament was yesterday informed that two Indians were recruiting ex-Sri Lankan servicemen to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war. SLFP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera said the leading operator had identified himself as a lawyer while his brother called himself a doctor.

They were in touch with ex-servicemen of Sri Lanka and offering them jobs as general camp helpers for either Ukraine or Russia, Jayasekera said. “But once they reach either Russia or Ukraine, they are not rostered for general camp duties; they are made to fight. So, Lankan ex-servicemen end up shooting one another from Russian and Ukrainian sides, the MP said, adding that a Lankan ex-serviceman, by the name of Kusantha Gunawardena had gone missing. He had been recruited as a general camp helper and sent to a Donetsk-region camp identified as BL/Y/41698/NO3.

There he had been deployed to work in a military tank which came under attack by Ukrainian drones , Jayasekera said. Two of his colleagues were killed but Gunawardena survived the attack. “However, there is no more information about this soldier. Now, he is missing,” Jayasekera said.

These ex-servicemen are lured through online and social media advertisements, Jayasekera said. “There are reports that a major is in custody for his involvement in enticing ex-servicemen to fight in Russia. Another former officer’s name, too, has been mentioned regarding this. Each ex-serviceman has been asked to pay Rs 1.8 million each to the racketeers to secure the jobs.

Leader of the House Minister Susil Premajayantha said that the government would respond to the matter soon.

Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that there were several investigations in progress by several agencies, including the police, military as well as the Foreign Ministry. There are reports of Sri Lankan ex-servicemen fighting in the Russian and Ukrainian armies as mercenaries. The police have received information that the recruitments are being conducted by institutions operating as employment agencies. Public Security Minister Tiran Alles would appraise the House of the progress of those investigations on Thursday, Minister Rajapakshe said.

News

Uma Oya project inaugurated

Published

9 hours ago

2024/04/25

Sahan Weerasooriya

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the commissioning of the Uma Oya project yesterday (pic courtesy PMD)

Iranian President Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (24) inaugurated the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project (UOMDP).

The Iranian leader arrived in Sri Lanka under tight security via the Mattala International Airport, where he was accorded a warm welcome by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

President Wickremesinghe invited Dr. Raisi though some interested parties are believed to have expressed concern over the move against the rising tensions in West Asia in the wake of tit-for-tat Iranian retaliation for the Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit in April 2008 was the last such by an Iranian President.

The Iranian-funded project would generate 120 MW of additional hydro power to Sri Lanka.

The Uma Oya Project, one of the major development projects in recent times, was initiated in 2007 when Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the President of Iran and Mahinda Rajapaksa was the President of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan then Ambassador to Tehran (2006-2012)

M. M. Zuhair, PC successfully initiated discussions with Iranian authorities for an interest-free oil purchase package on deferred payment terms at the height of the war with the LTTE; another US $ 105 million Rural Electrification project, plus the Uma Oya multi-Purpose Project, initially estimated at US $ 450 Million, all of which were signed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, when he visited Tehran on 27/11/2007, and successfully concluded with the Oma Oya being the last to be completed.

Iranian President Dr. Ahmadinejad offered to modernise the oil refinery at Sapugaskanda when he paid a visit to Sri Lanka in 2008 but was not pursued by Sri Lanka following US sanctions imposed for the first time on the Iranian Central Bank with implications for Sri Lankan banks dealing with the Iranian Central Bank.

Iran and Sri Lanka signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) yesterday, aimed at further bolstering bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Presidential Secretariat said that the primary objective of the Uma Oya project is to alleviate water scarcity in the southeastern dry region of the country by redirecting an annual average of 145 million cubic meters of excess water from the Uma Oya basin to the Kirindi Oya basin.

As a result of this project, approximately 4,500 hectares of new land and 1,500 hectares of existing agricultural land in the Moneragala District would receive water, the Presidential Secretariat said, adding that Badulla, Moneragala, and Hambantota would benefit from 39 million cubic meters of water for drinking and industrial purposes, while generating and adding 290 GWh of electrical energy annually to the National Grid.