CCC holds discussions with key political parties on economic crisis

• Meets with SJB, JVP, TNA and SLMC leaders among others
• Stresses importance of having a stable govt. in place to finalise Staff-level agreement with IMF
• Says all party leaders explained their inability to join new govt., accept ministerial portfolios, due to manner in which new PM was appointed

In an effort to explore the avenues to ease the ongoing pressures faced by the business community, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) held discussions with several key political parties in the last four days. The senior officials of the CCC discussed the serious economic and political challenges faced by the country in those meetings. Among the leaders met were Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa, JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, TNA Leader M.A. Sumanthiran and SLMC Leader Rauf Hakeem and several others. The CCC was represented by Chairman Vish Govindasamy, Vice Chairman Duminda Hulangamuwa, Deputy Vice Chairman Krishan Balendra, other board members, several past chairpersons and CEO. 

In a statement to the media yesterday, the CCC said during the discussions it provided insights on the rapidly deteriorating condition of the economy and business environment. It requested the political parties to work together with the interim government to address the key economic challenges, which could easily take the country towards a humanitarian crisis, if not resolved soon.

The CCC emphasised the importance of having a stable government in place to finalise the Staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and to appoint financial and legal advisors to proceed with the debt restructuring process.

All the political party delegations led by their respective leaders explained to the CCC their inability to join the new government and accept ministerial portfolios, due to the manner in which the new prime minister was appointed.
However, heeding the CCC’s request, all of them offered their fullest support and cooperation towards any positive actions the interim government takes to deal with the economic issues and provide relief to the people, the CCC said.

“The political parties reiterated that the only way forward is to call for early elections so that the people’s mandate can clearly be represented in the legislature, as the people have lost confidence in the current parliament. However, they agreed to wait for a certain period, during which the economy can be stabilised to some extent before elections are held,” shared the CCC.

Prior to the developments that took place last week, the CCC also met SLFP Leader Maithripala Sirisena, along with several other parliamentarians from that party and urged them to support the formation of an interim national government.