Friday Jan 09, 2026
Friday Jan 09, 2026
Thursday, 8 January 2026 00:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
National Freedom
Front Leader
Wimal Weerawansa
National Freedom Front Leader Wimal Weerawansa yesterday warned that the Government is preparing to replace the existing Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) system with a pension scheme that would disadvantage workers, accusing the ruling coalition of reviving a policy it had vehemently opposed in the past.
Addressing a media briefing at the party’s headquarters in Battaramulla, Weerawansa recalled the 2011 protests against a proposed pension scheme to replace the EPF, during which a young worker, Roshen Shanaka, died and more than 400 workers were injured. He said those protests, led by trade unions affiliated to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), ultimately forced the Government at the time to abandon the proposal.
Weerawansa alleged that the same policy is now being reintroduced by a Government led by the JVP, describing the move as political opportunism. He claimed the proposed changes would scrap the current EPF framework in favour of a pension scheme that benefits the State while offering workers lower returns, and called on private-sector and semi-government employees to oppose the move with greater resolve than in 2011.
Separately, Weerawansa criticised the Government’s foreign policy stance in relation to recent developments in Venezuela, accusing it of failing to take a clear position. He described the official statement issued by Sri Lanka as ambiguous and alleged that the Government had avoided explicitly criticising the United States over the reported abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
He further asserted that the National People’s Power and the JVP are effectively the same political entity and said a ruling party cannot maintain separate positions as a party and as a Government. According to Weerawansa, the Government’s response to the Venezuela issue demonstrated a departure from its previously stated anti-imperialist stance.
