• Says it’s imperative for him to be honest and transparent when he deals with the opposition

By Sandun A Jayasekera

Not only the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) but all other  political parties in the opposition were not in a position to support or  join an all-party interim government until President Ranil  Wickremesinghe comes up with his political road map and the specific  time frame of the stop-gap multi-party government and next general  election, the SJB said yesterday.  

General Secretary of the SJB and former Minister Ranjith  Maddumabandara told Daily Mirror that President Wickremesinghe has  failed to reveal his political agenda, the term of office of the  proposed interim government and the general election to be held after  the expiry of the stop gap administration during his talks with  political parties despite repeated requests.  

“It is imperative for him to be honest and transparent when  he deals with the opposition. He has kept an indecent silence when  raised the issue of the time frame of the interim government and about  the next parliamentary polls. If he tries to play the act of ‘Master  Dodger’ or the ‘Artful Dodger’ on these vital issues, he is highly  mistaken,” he emphasized.  

Mr. Maddumabandara said President Wickremesinghe has no  right whatsoever to give an undertaking to the SLPP that he would not  dissolve Parliament until the expiry of the present Parliament as 22  million Sri Lankans, the Mahanayakas of the four nikayas, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, the public and corporate  sector employees, estate sector employees and the aragalists demand in  one voice an election sooner than later to seek a fresh mandate to rule  the country.  

Sri Lanka won’t be able to pay back its debts as long as  she activates a debt restructuring programme. The donor countries and  global financial agencies have emphasized that they are not ready to  offer any financial assistance to Sri Lanka until Sri Lanka’s debts are  restructured and the country returned to normalcy. Unfortunately, the  Wickremesinghe regime has miserably failed to show even a hint that the  government was capable of restoring the law and order, protecting human  rights and strengthening democracy in the country and win the trust of  the global financial agencies and donors to obtain a substantial  financial assistance to bail out Sri Lanka from the current economic,  political and social distress. The Wickremesinghe regime is caught  between the devil and deep blue sea in this precarious scenario as the  situation has further aggravated under them, Mr. Maddumabandara noted.     

The danger of the failure to be honest and lack of  bona-fide intensions in this affair is that aragalists and trade unions  representing the entire workforce of the country are likely to launch an  indefinite trade union action more virulent and strong until the  government collapses and a reign of terror will take the centre stage  more damaging and brutal than the island wide mayhem that took place on  May 9th,” Mr. Maddumabandara lamented.   

• The Wickremesinghe regime is caught between the devil and deep blue sea in this precarious scenario