Current Govt. responsible for failures of past 4 years: Dr. Nalaka Godahewa

Eranda Ginige, Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama and Dr. Nalaka Godahewa participate in the press conference at the ‘Viyathmaga’ office, Kotte – Pic by Lasantha Kumara

By Nuwan Senarathna 

Dr. Nalaka Godahewa yesterday charged that the same Government which ruled the country for 45 months since January 2015 has returned to power, after the 26 October political deadlock which lasted for nearly seven weeks. 

 “There is an attempt to show that a new Government has been installed in this country since 16 December 2018.  That is not true,” Dr. Godahewa told reporters at a press conference organised by Viyath Maga in Colombo. 

According to Dr. Godahewa, the Cabinet appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena after 26 October, where MP Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as Prime Minister, was unable to carry out its duties due to constant battles in Parliament and Court injunctions. He also claimed that the current Government should bear responsibility for everything that happened during the last four years. “It is during their period that the biggest financial fraud in the history of the Central Bank, the bond scam, took place, and the country lost more than Rs. 1 trillion as a result,” he charged.

Dr. Godahewa pointed out Sri Lanka’s economic growth rate, which was second only to China in Asia, had dropped from about 7% to less than 2.5% during the last four years, due to the management failures of the Coalition Government that was formed after Maithripala Sirisena was elected as President in 2015.  “During the last 45 months, the National Debt increased by 40%, the tax burden of the people increased by 100%, and the rupee devalued by almost 30%, which has lead the country to a dead end,” he added.

Dr. Godahewa also charged that Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’s actions after 26 October, where a No-Confidence Motion against MP Mahinda Rajapaksa and a Motion supporting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were passed in Parliament, had been based on political motives. He also claimed international parties controlled the United National Party (UNP), which led Minister Mangala Samaraweera co-sponsoring the 30/1 resolution in Geneva in 2015. “It was a part of a conspiracy against Sri Lanka,” he charged.

Meanwhile, Dr. Godahewa also charged that Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A Sumanthiran was involved in a conspiracy to bring in a new Constitution in a bid to weaken the central Government and strengthen the Provincial Councils. “M.A. Sumanthiran’s first step towards federalism will be followed by a separate state. He wants to achieve what Prabhakaran couldn’t achieve through 30 years of terrorism,” he charged.