Harin claims President does not know names of most SLPP MPs

By Saman Indrajith

SJB MP Harin Fernando yesterday placed a wager that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa did not know the names of even one third of the SLPP MPs in Parliament. 

Participating in the third reading debate on the budget 2021, Fernando said that former President Mahinda Rapjapaksa knew each MP his or her name. “I bet you that the President does not know the names of even a half, nay at least one third of MPs in the government side”. 

MP Shantha Bandara: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the only person who has made it compulsory for each MP to meet him. He meets MPs in batches of ten regularly and listens to their problems. He knows the names of all MPs. It is your leader who does not know the names of MPs. 

MP Fernando said that Budget 2021 was a failure. “Usually when there is a budget debate in Parliament people listen to radios, watch TVs and read newspapers eagerly to find out what relief that they would get from the budget. This year, there is no mention of relief or what people may get. Instead, we heard speeches proposing the growing of ganja to settle the foreign loans, statements to that effect that turning black money into white is good for the economy. Throughout the debate there had been references to a particular brand of tablet known as Reverse. We also heard the government MPs saying our antigen man is a good man. There is no point you are slandering me for speaking the truth. Socrates has said that when the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers.”