Tilvin says NPP-led Govt. will transform society during its five-year mandate

• Insists Sri Lanka is not heading toward another crisis
• Credits NPP’s rise to major shift in public political consciousness
• Says Opposition must become more civilised if they want to topple this Govt.
• Opines people will never allow country to return to one where fraud and corruption is rampant

JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) General Secretary Tilvin Silva assured members of the Sri Lankan community in London that the National People’s Power (NPP)-led Government remains firmly committed to delivering deep social and economic transformation during its five-year mandate.

“We are working with an aim, with a plan, and we are reaching those targets gradually. We have no right to mess up the people’s mandate. Our aim is to create a new society, and we will do it,” he said this weekend.

Silva dismissed concerns that Sri Lanka could slip back into crisis, insisting that the administration was formed specifically to guide the country towards long-term structural change.

“Sri Lanka is not heading into another crisis or economic pitfall. This Government was created to transform society deeply and to continue this administration for five years,” he said.

He argued that winning elections and forming a Government are not, by themselves, synonymous with national transformation. “Taking power, running a Government, and transforming society are three different things. We are doing that,” he added.

Reflecting on the conditions in which the NPP took office, Silva said the Government inherited a bankrupt economy. 

He criticised former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, asserting that his stabilisation efforts placed the burden on citizens. “Some say Ranil Wickremesinghe saved the economy, but he didn’t. All he did was pass the burden on the public by curtailing benefits they should have received,” he said.

Silva maintained that the current Government’s economic stabilisation measures implemented in consultation with the Central Bank were globally acknowledged. “We stabilised the economy by removing most of the barriers on the public. We reopened the economy and allowed imports. Even amidst that, we continue to maintain healthy reserves and economic stability,” he said.

He also pointed that the Opposition had hoped for ongoing fuel shortages and queues. “Wickremesinghe kept saying ‘the next two weeks are crucial’ and that recovery would only come in 2048. But we didn’t sell anything or hang the country on a vine bridge. We simply stabilised the economy gradually with prudent measures,” he added.

Silva declared that the administration had curbed fraud and corruption at the top level of governance, though he acknowledged such issues persist in lower levels of the public service.

He credited the NPP’s rise to a major shift in public political consciousness. “Political perspectives in Sri Lanka have changed intensely. Those who fail to understand that will not succeed. We won because we recognised the change in people’s desire for a new political ideology,” he said.

Silva challenged the Opposition, saying it lacks the moral and systemic credibility to threaten the Government. “The Opposition must become more civilized if they want to topple this Government. Do you think people will allow a country that has eliminated fraud and corruption to return to one where corruption is rampant?” he asked.

He asserted that only a “cleaner system” could pose a genuine challenge, but opined that the current Opposition does not meet that standard. “Same old people, concepts, ideologies and stories. Therefore, nobody should doubt the NPP-led Government running for five years,” he said.