SJB still ready to join a government without GR

SJB says that they are still ready to join an all-party government if President Gotabaya Rajaapksa is not a part of it.

Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella said that none of the prevailing crises could be solved as long as President Rajapaksa remains in office.

“International aid and assistance is the need of the hour, but none in the international community will help an interim government with President Rajapaksa in it. Therefore any measure for temporary governance will not be of any use if he continues to head the government,” Kiriella said.

“People have been agitating for months. Their slogan is that Gota must go home. After months of such demands, Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned and went home. That does not solve the crisis. The President should understand that people are asking him to resign. There is no point in the President toying with ideas and plans to stay in power. That will only worsen the situation.

“None but President Gotabaya Rajapaksa should take the responsibility for the present crisis. He led the country to bankruptcy. We are all paying the price for his arrogance in making decisions such as switching to organic fertilizers and not going to the IMF while the entire nation has been calling on him to do so.

“Another folly under him was the passing of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. The Speaker helped the passage of this amendment by suspending Standing Orders. The Speaker too is therefore culpable for this mess.

“I am ashamed that a learned man like Ali Sabry presented that amendment which placed all power over the police, army, judiciary and public administration in the hands of the Executive. That amendment turned Parliament a dud coin and rendered the police and judiciary impotent,” Kiriella said.