UNP dismisses talk of national government as “fake news”

The United National Party yesterday dismissed as “fake news” reports relating to the formation of a national government, terming it “propaganda carried out by certain bankrupt political groups”.

“The main focus on everyone’s mind is not to protect the political strongholds in the country but to save the lives of the people of this country. Yesterday, the leaders of the United National Party (UNP) and the Government headed by the President held a meeting to discuss the measures that are being taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the UNP said in a press release.

It said that the discussions held on Wednesday with the Government were related to measures taken to control the spread of coronavirus as well as the shortcomings in the mechanism to provide relief to the people.

These included problems arising from the attempted opportunistic narrow politicisation of some of the mechanisms installed to assist the public, making more formal arrangements for the continuation of children’s education, issues relating to the safety of hospital staff and doctors who have come forward to provide treatment, and the importance of providing adequate clothing and equipment for their safety, continuous strengthening of the economy of the country and addressing the problems faced by public, private and plantation sector workers as well as daily wage earners, practical problems faced by people in purchasing medication, and a number of other areas, including the importance of developing a joint mechanism with the support of all relevant private sectors for the implementation of the coronavirus eradication program, the UNP said.

It added that the UNP was a principled political party that had never criticised the good or the bad for the sake of narrow political objectives.

“At present, the administration of the country is governed by a Cabinet of Ministers headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Whether we like it or not, we have to work with them to liberate the country from the situation we face that we are facing. The UNP, led by the Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe, is of the view that the Government has taken some measures to control the spread of the coronavirus virus. In this context, the false propaganda carried out by various bankrupt and opportunist political groups in the Government and the Opposition is sadly dismissed,” the press release said.