ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has called for voters to send experienced members back to parliament in the upcoming general election, saying those who worked with him have the necessary expertise.
“Without experience, you cannot run the Parliament, you cannot achieve the goals we have been set. Those who worked with me have the expertise to solve the economic challenges,” Wickremesinghe said making a statement on Thursday.
“So they should be in Parliament whether in the government or opposition.”
Wickremesinghe said it was important to have experience in running the Parliament and reaching economic goals, and urged Sri Lankans to vote for people who worked with him as president to address the economic crisis.
He undertook the presidency when the country had defaulted, he said, and his goal was to reach debt sustainability and overcome bankruptcy.
“We were able to reach agreement with the IMF, 18 countries that lent to us and private bondholders.”
This was possible because he was able to work with those in the previous parliament, he said, thanking them.
What needs to be done next is to implement the agreements and reach debt sustainability so that Sri Lanka could access foreign funding, from banks or donor agencies, once more.
“But President Anura Dissanayake has indicated that he wants to make changes to these agreements.
“The power to make financial decisions about the country rests with the parliament. So it will the responsibility of the new parliament.”
Based on the results of the presidential election last month, it was clear that no party has an absolute majority, he said, and said Sri Lanka could not repeat the mistake of the last parliament where some members refused to accept responsibility. (Colombo/Oct17/2024)