President and PM must step down: Kiriella

The Gotabaya Rajapaksa – Ranil Wickremesinghe regime must stop forthwith further aggravating the misery of millions of families in Sri Lanka and step down immediately making way for Parliament to elect a new President, a Prime Minister and a cabinet under an all-party interim government, Chief Opposition Whip and senior vice president of the SJB Lakshman Kiriella said today.

The Gotabaya Rajapaksa regime has hoodwinked the global financial agency, the IMF. Therefore no other international financial agency like the World Bank and the ADB or donor countries like China, India, the US, the EU countries, Japan, UK or Korea would assist Sri Lanka to redeem itself from the current economic, political and social mess created by the Rajapaksas and deepened by the Ranil – Gota kleptocracy, he told Daily Mirror.

“When our friendly countries requested the IMF to assist Sri Lanka early this year, the IMF said Sri Lanka must introduce economic and political reforms to qualify for its help. The global financial giant is not ready to waste its funds by giving money to a country devastated by political, economic and social turmoil. But the SLPP led regime or the Ranil – Gota regime failed to introduce political and economic reforms to restore political, economic and social stability and thereby to win the confidence of the IMF, the World Bank, the ADB, the donor countries or investors,” Mr. Kiriella charged.

In his address to the nation on May 11th, President Rajapaksa said after appointing a new prime minister and Government shortly, constitutional amendments would be introduced and will enact the contents of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which will vest more powers with the Parliament.

“I will appoint a young cabinet without any of the Rajapaksas. The new government’s prime minister will be awarded the opportunity to produce a new programme and take this country forward,” Rajapaksa vowed.

“Has he honoured this pledge? No. The draft of the proposed 21st A submitted to the Cabinet by the government is a minus of 19A, not a 19A plus as promised. Not only that, when US Ambassador Julie Chung met the Speaker on April 27 in Parliament, the ambassador said she hoped the government, including the new Prime Minister, would be able to bring about political stability and overcome the current economic crisis. She emphasized the need to carry out the political reforms desired by the people and to safeguard democracy in the country,” has the government met these promises. No. That is why the SJB urges the government rejected by the local and global community to make way to form an all-party government, enact the 21st A and give a time frame to hold Parliamentary polls without fail. It seems they have not learnt a lesson from the May 9 carnage, Mr. Kiriella emphasized. (Sandun A Jayasekera)