• Says the President and government have lost all confidence
• We are ready to take on the responsibility and get this country out of this mess. We certainly can do it. But people across this nation want the President to step down and the government to resign

By Kelum Bandara

In response to reports about the offer of the Finance Ministry portfolio, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Dr. Harsha de Silva said no offer had come from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa but from a number of senior ministers and various interlocutors on his behalf.

He said he is ready to take on the responsibility, but people across the country want the President to step down.
“We are ready to take on the responsibility and get this country out of this mess. We certainly can do it. But people across this nation want the President to step down and the government to resign,” he said.

He said, “The President and government have lost all confidence, so it is not possible to work with this group. They have no real legitimacy. Therefore, we need a new government outside the 20th amendment that concentrates power with the executive president. We are ready to negotiate a way out if the government is willing to work with the opposition on a mechanism to transfer power back to Parliament along the 19th amendment, given the constitutional limitations of removing the executive president at this moment. However, we can certainly work on a transitional arrangement for an interim government along these lines with an agreement on a minimum programme for nine months or so and to go in for an election to obtain a mandate to abolish the executive Presidency,” Harsha said.

• We are ready to negotiate a way out if the government is willing to work with the opposition on a mechanism to transfer power back to Parliament along the 19th amendment, given the constitutional limitations of removing the executive president at this moment