Ranil plays role of one man Opposition raising pertinent questions

By Saman Indrajith

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday (07) asked the government to reveal to Parliament why the Finance Minister visited India during the budget debate.
Raising a privilege issue in Parliament, Wickremesinghe said that the government had promised to present details on the foreign currency reserves to the House the week before, but had not done so.

“However, the government has failed to do so until now. Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa is on an official visit to India at the moment. They presented to India the information we have asked for. Why can’t the Finance Minister reveal this information to this House,” the UNP leader queried.

Wickremesinghe said that the Central Bank Governor had, at an online forum, said that Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserve was about USD 1.5 billion now. “Why do you hesitate to reveal this to us? This is actually a violation of our privileges. The Finance Minister should be in the House during the budget debate. This is the first time in which a budget debate is being held without the presence of a Finance Minister.”

The UNP leader asked the government if it was following the ‘Cabraal Way’ or the ‘Rajapaksa Way’.

Smurdhi, Household Economy, Micro Finance, Self-Employment and Business Development State Minister Shehan Semasinghe said that the government only followed the President’s Policy Statement, and added that there was only one leader in the government.

Semasinghe said that a detailed answer to the questions raised by Wickremesinghe and other MPs regarding the economic situation in the country, including the foreign currency reserves, was being prepared and it would be presented to the House very soon.

Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena said the Finance Minister attended the debate from time to time.

“When there are special meetings and events, he has to attend them. I know about the conduct of past Finance Ministers. I also was a Finance Minister back then,” Minister Gunawardena said.

UNP leader Wickremesinghe said that no Finance Minister had visited foreign countries during budget debates. “Can you tell us why? Did he go to India on a pilgrimage?” he queried.

State Minister Semasinghe: “The Finance Minister has done his duties properly. He attended several sittings. The problem is Wickremesinghe does not attend the sittings regularly.”

UNP leader Wickremesinghe: “The CBSL Governor said that the government would not kneel before other nations. Then why did the Finance Minister go to India?”
State minister Semasinghe said the UNP leader was single-handedly performing the job of an entire Opposition. “I thank him for that. The Opposition Leader and the SJB never ask questions like this. The SJB fled Parliament because they cannot face the people now,” the Minister said.