The Next President - 2024

By Yohan Perera   

Independent candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday stressed that Sri Lanka’s economy will be worse than 2022 if the country deviates from current economic reforms.  

He said Sri Lanka should only focus on economic stability alone now while the constitutional reforms should be put to the back seat.   

In his final interview with journalists ahead of the September 21 Presidential Election, Wickremesinghe said that the most important thing was to continue with the economic reforms programme which he has undertaken. “Is there an alternative to our programme? There is no other way. The ethnic issue or abolishing of the Executive presidency are not important now.

The only issue in this election is the economy. We have managed to maintain some kind of stability. Sustaining it is the only important factor,” Wickremesinghe said.   

“You can’t change the agreement which Sri Lanka has signed with the IMF. We have planned the budget for 2025 in accordance with the IMF agreement. JVP has failed to say how they are going to prepare the budget if elected to power. If we deviate from the current economic reforms, the economy will turn into a worse situation than it was in 2022. I was waiting to have a public debate with the NPP and others. They have not invited me for such a debate. It is important to sustain the achievement which Sri Lanka has made to fully emerge from the worst economic crisis it has suffered, the IMF has said. They have said so in their statement which was issued on September 12th this year. IMF is mentioning that Sri Lanka has achieved much since the economic crisis. However, the opposition is denying it,” he added.    

By Susitha Fernando  

Opposition leader and the Presidential candidate of the Samagi Jana Sandhanaya, Sajith Premadasa vowed that he would take legal action against anyone responsible for major scams in the recent past and would not hesitate to take action against the incumbent President if he too is found to be responsible for aiding and abetting to crimes.   

In a candid interview with Daily Mirror, when asked whether in case former leaders of the country even someone like Ranil Wickremesinghe is found to have allegedly aided and abetted to some of these allegations of corruption, Premadasa responded in the affirmative.   

“100%. I will” Premadasa responded.   

Asked whether he would take action against those responsible for alleged scams which were openly spoken about in public and political arenas such as the Greek bond scam, sugar scam, Treasury bond scam and now an alleged scam related to the VFS issue, Premadasa reassured that his party would enforce the law.   

“Unlike those who profess anti-corruption on stages, we are a party that actively seeks to eradicate corruption. We were the ones to go to court about the medicine scam. We were the ones to go to court about the economic disaster and obtain a historic verdict against those who were responsible. We were the ones to go to court about the illegal appointment of the IGP,” Premadasa said..   

“We believe that actions speak louder than words. We have proven that we are a party that actively and aggressively seeks to eradicate corruption. For us, this is not a new thing, it’s simply the continuation of the mission we were already on,” Premadasa reiterated.   

By Ajith Siriwardana

National People’s Power (NPP) presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake urged people to vote for him to form a government free of fraud, corruption and misuse.   

He told the Daily Mirror that NPP will create political stability soon after coming to power and that the programme to develop the economy will be implemented step by step afterwards.   
Dissanayake said the NPP is taking power on September 21 to move forward the country for a transformation of a new era.   

Meanwhile speaking at a rally in Ruwanwella, he said the current economic crisis was created by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa only became the victim of the crisis created by Wickremesinghe.   

He said Sri Lanka has obtained USD 15.5 billion from the International Sovereign Bonds (ISB) and that only USD 3 billion was obtained during the Mahinda Rajapaksa era and that the rest of USD 12.5 billion was obtained during the Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Good Governance government of four years in 2015.   

“Sri Lanka has already settled the USD 3 billion obtained during Rajapaksa’s term. Sri Lanka is still to pay USD 12.5 billion ISBs obtained during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s term in 2015. Sri Lanka’s Dollar reserve depleted after failing to settle that loan. No international institutions provided us loans afterwards and our reserves depleted. So, then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to spend the Dollar reserves in the Central Bank and those reserves also ran out. Then, we were unable to procure fuel and gas creating fuel and gas shortage which resulted in the power outage. That is how the economic crisis emerged. Gotabaya only became the victim of the crisis created by Ranil Wickremesinghe,” he said.

Dissanayake said after Ranil Wickremesinghe took office following Gotabaya’s removal, only what Ranil did was to stop paying loans and procured fuel and gas with the Dollars saved due to non-payment of loans.      

By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama

“This election is not about choosing the best speaker, entertainer, or announcer. It’s about creating a free and safe country, easing the burden of taxes, securing a bright future for your children, and improving business prospects for the future,” presidential candidate Namal Rajapaksa said in a rally organized in Ratnapura yesterday.  

Addressing the rally, he said that the SLPP election manifesto does not include any policy that they cannot implement. We only promise what we are capable of delivering,” he said.  

He assured everyone that he would take responsibility for uniting and developing the country without causing division. Therefore, Namal Rajapaksa urged the people to go to the polling stations on election day (21).   

“Some may try to threaten you at the polling stations. Certain political members have claimed they will intimidate people for attending our rallies because they lack a clear policy. Those who resort to threats are impatient and unable to handle victory and defeat,” he said.

We do not want to frighten the people and take their votes, he said.  

For the first time, there are three Rajapaksas on the ballot paper. However, the original Namal Rajapaksa is representing the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), recognized by the ‘Pohottuwa’ symbol.  

“I thought Namal Rajapaksa was the only one in parliament, but there are actually three Rajapaksas on the ballot paper, including two named Namal. He, therefore, urged voters not to rely on names when casting their vote, but to check the election symbol carefully,” he said.  

“Under our government, we aim to transform this country into a global hub for the gemstone industry. Currently, Thailand and Dubai have established themselves as key centres for gems.

By implementing our policies, we are confident that we can position our nation as a leading destination for the global gemstone trade, enhancing both its reputation and economic potential in this sector,” candidate Namal Rajapaksa added.