UNP created middle class, Rajapaksa regime destroyed it: Ranil

Monday, 20 October 2014 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Dharisha Bastians The United National Party had built a middle class in Sri Lanka that the Rajapaksa administration has destroyed over the past decade, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe charged yesterday.

Speaking to UNP polling agents in Kotte yesterday, Wickremesinghe claimed that while President Mahinda Rajapaksa had promised that the savings from concluding the war would be passed on as a dividend to the people, this had not transpired. “The middle class, the common people and the farmers find it very difficult to survive today. After winning every election, the Rajapaksa regime claimed it had obtained a mandate from the people, and continued to increase fuel, electricity and gas prices,” the Opposition Leader said. He added that all the while, members of the Rajapaksa administration had been living the high life. The Opposition Leader reiterated his demand for a Rs. 10,000 wage hike for public servants and up to 25% reductions in electricity tariffs. “This Government reduces prices by special gazette. And then it increases them again, also by special gazette,” Wickremesinghe claimed. The Opposition Leader said top US economists like Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz had argued that IMF theories low inflation and low interest rates do not work to spur economic growth. Wickremesinghe said that Stiglitz had said two months ago that there was no point focusing on inflation alone. “It is the two issues of income and unemployment that must be addressed to go forward,” he explained. “There is no point in having low interest rates from banks and low inflation if the people’s income is not raised,” Wickremesinghe claimed. The UNP’s vision was to develop the industries sector and create one million jobs within five years, with significant foreign assistance, the Opposition Leader asserted.

UNP rubbishes allegations over Ranil

The main Opposition United National Party (UNP) yesterday rubbished claims that party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had met the pro-LTTE Diaspora in London and discussed moves against the country. UNP MP Kabir Hashim said that the UNP leader had gone to London recently for work and meetings related to the party and nothing else.

He said that the Government is making comments on the recent EU court judgement on the LTTE without understanding the case properly. President Mahinda Rajapaksa had said that the EU court ruling against the sanctions on the LTTE, was delivered just days after the Opposition leader had met the pro-LTTE Diaspora. Government Minister Wimal Weerawansa, meanwhile, told reporters today that the EU court gave the order against the LTTE ban soon after the UNP leader came back to Sri Lanka after a visit to Europe. He also said that there are reports the UNP leader had been invited by LTTE supporters in Malaysia for a meeting to discuss the next presidential elections. Kabir Hashim however said that Weerawansa was making comments without knowing the ground realities and such ministers should not be in a Government. He said that Weerawansa should ask his own leader how it is that the EU court gave an order in support of the LTTE and why Sri Lankan Government lawyers had not made submissions to the EU court in the case. The UNP MP noted that the ban on the LTTE has not yet been removed and that an appeal can be filed against the court ruling in order to have the judgement overturned. “If these ministers do their job properly without just pointing fingers at the UNP they can save this country,” the UNP MP said. Kabir Hashim says Weerawansa should reveal, in an open debate, the deal he claims the UNP leader has made with the Diaspora without day dreaming. He also accused the Government of having its own deal with former LTTE weapons dealer Kumaran Pathmanathan, who is now in the care of the Government. (Colombo Gazette)