Governance is second, building economy comes first President Wickremesinghe

• ‘Politicians cannot punish the corrupt, only courts can do it’
• We have already enacted the Women Empowerment Act. Its coming into effect has to be put in place
• Corruption is an issue we have to deal with
•  We are also bringing the new insolvency law. That is to restructure some of the SMEs that got badly affected
• By October you will get e-passports
• We are going to give you solutions through the new insolvency law, you can go to court and ask for restructuring of your debts
• We are going to have socialism with Sri Lankan characteristics
• I think students must have less subjects and more time to enjoy as we did during our times

“I spoke to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They gave anti-corruption methods- a number of laws and regulations. Once we put them into practice,   we will have the best anti-corruption system in South Asia. If you want more details, you can go to the website of the Finance Ministry. That is the anti-corruption work that we have to carry on”

“Being in President Jayewardene’s Cabinet was certainly an experience.  It all depends on the numbers you can get from there as available. You could work with a small team. I had one experience that President Jayewardene did not have.  President Jayewardene picked a team he knew well. He got along with them.  I did not have that opportunity”

We should be in the open market.  The majority of us are Buddhists. Theravada Buddhism is based on trading. The first news about the Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka by two traders- Tapassu and Balluka. We are very good at trading. Of course, Sri Lankans are very good at preserving the past. That is our problem 

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his ‘Ask Me Anything Session’ which was organised by the Professionals Forum, took questions from the audience on a wide range of issues. President Wickremesinghe warned that if Sri Lanka’s economy isn’t swiftly reoriented towards exports, the country may face another financial crisis between 2035-2040; necessitating continued borrowing. He emphasised that alongside economic reforms, the nation’s social systems had to also undergo significant transformation to sustain progress. The event, attended by a large number of professionals from various fields across Sri Lanka, provided a platform for direct engagement with the President. During the session, President Wickremesinghe addressed a wide range of questions and concerns, offering positive responses and solutions to the issues raised by participants. 

Here are excerpts of the questions and the answers provided by the President.

Q:  How do you compare and contrast your experience being in the Cabinet of then President the late J.R. Jayewardene and the Cabinet formed after the 2022 economic crisis?

Being in President Jayewardene’s Cabinet was certainly an experience. We went through turbulent times- first economic and then political. We learned a lot; how to be ministers and hold collective responsibility and not to get stuck in conventional thinking.  It all depends on the numbers you can get from there as available. You could work with a small team. I think that experience helped me a lot when I came here. I had one experience that President Jayewardene did not have.  President Jayewardene picked a team he knew well. He got along with them.  I did not have that opportunity. I must say that they (my team) worked as well as we did in 1977. (Applause)

Q:We heard that you are going to implement a Women Empowerment Act. Can you give us more information?

 We have already enacted the Women Empowerment Act. Its coming into effect has to be put in place. It has to be done after the elections.  It is up for the Constitutional Council.  All the criteria is laid down there on how they can perform and what they have to do. We are looking at a lot of work for them. They will require the help of all the women organizations. 

Q: Will you take action against those responsible for cremation of Covid-19 victims who were Muslim?

We have now brought in the bill on burials and cremations. We are going to have a parliamentary select committee to go into the report that was submitted, which said that burials should not be permitted.  But, of course, there is also a Supreme Court judgment. Some of them can come under that. That is why we decided to have a parliamentary select committee, and not a normal committee. 

Q:What are the plans for streamlining approvals for investments which is a pressing concern among investors at the moment?

We are bringing in an economic commission under the Economic Transformation Act which will come into effect on January 1, 2025. There will be one single point. They are empowered to make decisions. In two weeks, they should reply. It is the discretion of the commission to give them a week or so.
Q:Corruption and lack of discipline in society are serious issues in this country. Mr. President, if you get reelected, what will you do to ensure discipline in society and address corruption right from Parliament itself? (Applause)

Corruption is an issue we have to deal with.  As for the last government, we had a number of committees. There were the Bribery Commission and two divisions of the police. The anti-corruption division and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). There was a secretariat on anti-corruption headed by Ananda Wijepala nominated by the JVP.  We had one more member, J.C. Weliamuna.  Looking at it, I can understand that we had a lot of shortcomings. No one wanted to address corruption. All wanted to be popular by saying that we are going to address corruption and put the corrupt into jail. We cannot put the corrupt into jail. Only the courts can put the corrupt into jail. We can prosecute them and send them to jail. But, everyone is taken up by politics. 

I spoke to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They gave anti-corruption methods- a number of laws and regulations. Once we put them into practice,   we will have the best anti-corruption system in South Asia. If you want more details, you can go to the website of the Finance Ministry. That is the anti-corruption work that we have to carry on. That is very, very exhaustive and done by the top team in the IMF.  If we get it implemented, in two or three years, we will be able to address most of the issues related to corruption.

As for Parliament, we are bringing in the parliamentary standard law to ensure that parliamentarians who are involved in it can be removed from Parliament. 

Q:What are your plans for the development of the SME (Small, medium Enterprises) sector?

We have to revive it first. They got the worst of Covid-19 and the economic crisis. We are going to restructure them.  We will help them with Rs.50 billion. We are also bringing the new insolvency law. That is to restructure some of the SMEs that got badly affected. That is to get as many of them as possible to function normally.

Q:You have ended all the queues. When are you going to end the passport queue? 

It means one queue is still remaining (Laughter in the audience). Why do they want to go to Sri Lanka now? We have to apologise for what has taken place. We are moving out from conventional passports into e-passports.  In the process of getting e-passports, there were delays in the procurement system.  As the government, we have to take responsibility for it.  We thought we would not go back to conventional passports. Instead, we take the blackguarding right now regarding the shortage of passports and go ahead with the plan.  By October, you will get e-passports. Then, the issue will be over.  We will be issuing more passports in the coming few weeks, though. But no one should be in a hurry to leave the country. E-passport is cheaper than the present one. You have to bear with us.

Q:Will there be a national policy under your future presidency to protect SMEs?

As I said earlier, SMEs will be one of our main areas to be focused on. SMEs are the lifeguard of our economy.  But it must work within the economic system. We are working on pumping in Rs.50 billion into the sector.  There will be more money coming in. As the country’s economy gets better, the SMEs will thrive. There will be more and more SMEs that come into play.

Q:What about parate law?

Parate law will be there.  We are going to give you solutions through the new insolvency law, you can go to court and ask for restructuring of your debts.  That is what is happening in the USA and the UK today. That is what is used for small, medium and large industries.
 But parate law has to be there. But, we are bringing in new laws.
Q:Why is Sri Lanka socialist? Will there be any change?

We should be in the open market.  The majority of us are Buddhists. Theravada Buddhism is based on trading. The first news about the Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka by two traders- Tapassu and Balluka. We are very good at trading. Of course, Sri Lankans are very good at preserving the past. That is our problem.
 Socialism has changed. Today, socialism with Chinese characteristics are there. We are going to have socialism with Sri Lankan characteristics.   This is the mindset we have to change. We are calling for that change.
Q:What are your plans for consolidation of the banking sector and digitization of the economy?

There are many government projects going for digitalization to be over in five years. Most departments are undergoing it including the immigration department.

Q:Today, the young generation despises politicians because of their conduct in power.  Will you be introducing a code of conduct for them?

 It will be done in terms of the proposed parliamentary standard law modeled on the UK law in this regard.  There will be powers to ensure the code of conduct.
Q:Why is the government not taking more and more subjects related to economy into the curriculum?

I am not someone in favoor of putting more subjects.  I think students must have less subjects and more time to enjoy as we did during our times. That is for the media to make people aware of the economy. If some of the people in the media do not know the economy, what else can we expect students to know?
Q:What is your policy on the apparel industry to remain competitive internationally?

I have given the basic outline of policies and strategies. I have not gone into details on different sectors. Some people have spent over 200 pages on different sectors.  The best thing is to collect those manifestoes and sell them as used paper. As far as our apparel industry is concerned, we have been stagnating for the last two years. Our sales have stagnated.  We have to upgrade our industry.
Q:Will executive presidency be abolished?

First, I leave it to the next Parliament to decide. For 20-30 years, we have talked about abolishing the executive presidency and forgotten the economy. Let me focus on the economy and leave the executive presidency to the next Parliament!  In my view,   governance is second. We have to get our economy straight. Let the country decide what type of economy it needs!
Q:What is your experience about the minority parties?

The minority parties are with them and minorities are with me.