Former Presidents Chandrika Kumaratunga and Maithripala Sirisena are seen here having a chat during the 64th commemoration ceremony of the late Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike yesterday at the Bandaranaika Samadhi monument in Horagolla. The vacant seat had been allocated for Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardane.The daughters of the late Prime Minister, Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Sunethra Bandaranaike and the relatives paid floral tributes at the Bandaranaika Samadhi. 
Pic by Tilakaratne Dissanayaka   

• Says NPP will deal with IMF while respecting the people’s mandate 

By Ajith Siriwardana  
A future National Peoples’ Power (NPP) government will never hesitate to work with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other institutions, former NPP MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said yesterday.  
He told reporters that the NPP will deal with the IMF while respecting the people’s mandate and will be committed to implement the proposals agreed to by the mandate.  
He alleged that the present government is only trying to postpone the economic crisis by hiding behind the IMF proposals rather than genuinely intervening to resolve the true crisis.  

Dr. Jayatissa said the government was forced to adhere to whatever conditions set by the IMF as the government had failed to seek assistance at the right time.  
When asked whether the NPP government would continue the IMF programme agreed upon by the present government, he said governments in the past had not completed the IMF programme all the time and that only eight times out of the 17 occasions, Sri Lanka had completed the IMF programme.  
“We will review the IMF programme agreed upon by the present government. We will discuss with the IMF and implement only the proposals to suit our mandate. Any institution will honour the mandate of a government,” he said.  
He said this following a special discussion with representatives of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) and the National Peoples’ Power (NPP) at the JVP headquarters where they discussed issues faced by the health sector.