Voters too are responsible for current crisis – Basil

Those who voted for the President and the government too are somewhat responsible for the current political and economic crisis, former MP Basil Rajapaksa said yesterday at a press conference to announce his resignation from Parliament.

Responding to a question posed by a journalist, Rajapajsa said that he was not interested in blaming people for the crisis and that everyone including journalists were responsible for the current calamity.

“All governments since 1951 have borrowed money. If we go to a deeper level of analysis, those who voted for us too are partly responsible for the crisis,” he said.

Rajapaksa added that he supports a Constitution that gives more power to the people. Moreover, more power should be concentrated in the Parliament, he said.

“The current crisis will not be over until a Constitution that gives power to the people is introduced. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received 6.9 million votes. How much did Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe get? I am against the move to transfer power from Gotabaya to Ranil.”

The former MP said that he had faced no internal or external pressure to resign. However, given that the proposed 21st Amendment to the Constitution had provisions that he opposed, he had decided it was best to leave.

“Otherwise, people would say I tried to thwart it. I am opposed to the clause that bars dual citizens from entering parliament. There are Prime Ministers in other countries who are dual citizens. If a Sri Lankan, who holds a dual citizenship, wants to contribute to Sri Lanka, he or she must be encouraged,” he said.

Rajapaksa added that the SLPP would contest the coming elections, including the local government elections, scheduled for next year.

“We have the highest number of local councillors. We are not afraid of elections.”

Rajapaksa said that some people claimed that elections cost a lot of money. “Yes, they do. But that is the price we pay for democracy. Maintaining a democracy can’t be done without incurring expenses,” he said.