After the international bondholders arrived in Sri Lanka, the President, the United People’s Force and the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna team met and discussed with them. Still, the government and the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna have not expressed any opinion regarding these discussions and they cannot accept the proposals presented by the international bondholders. Mr De Silva said. Sri Lanka Latest News
Commenting further, Dr. Harsha de Silva said that the Suvasarya ambulance service and the Prabhaswara agricultural warehouse that can store 5000 metric tons will be maintained anyway and those two projects will not be allowed to be stopped in any way.
Member of Parliament Dr Harsha De Silva said this while participating in the press conference held at the Opposition Leader’s office in Colombo today (15).
Dr. Harsha de Silva commented further and said:
Addressing the Parliament, the President mentioned that the country’s economy is turning into a good state and the President also spoke about debt restructuring. But the people of the country are in a tight economic situation. Also, the President states that no work can be done until the debt restructuring is done. The President also says that the debt restructuring processes should be completed soon.
After the international bondholders arrived in Sri Lanka, they met the President, the Samagi Janabalawegaya team, and the Janata Vimukti Peramuna team. The government and the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna had not expressed any opinion in this regard. The proposals presented by the international bondholders cannot be accepted. The reason is that according to the proposals of the international bondholders, the face value will be cut in 2028. They measure the success of the country’s economy in US dollars. Accordingly, it is decided to cut a part of their face value. According to our calculations, by 2028, by cutting the face value, we get about 7 per cent. The International Monetary Fund had not expressed their opinion in this regard.
The Artha Factor Fund took a huge hit during the domestic debt restructuring. The government had not previously announced what the Artha Factor Fund was doing. The government had not expressed any opinion on the restructuring of local debt. The government later stated that all that was done because of the need of the international creditors. If so, there should be equality here.
No other political party expressed their opinion regarding the 7 per cent cut in face value to international creditors by inconveniencing local creditors. However I would like to mention that Samagi Janabalawega does not agree with this process.
The government has come up with a counter-proposal, which is better than the proposal made by the creditors. It can be seen that the reduction of the face value to less than 7 per cent will not be reduced through that proposal. But this proposal is a complex proposal. There are 64 options in that proposal.
They told us that it is too complicated to travel to such a place. Sinhala media is not talking about this. But it is a matter to be talked about. People have been informed about this. Bringing pressure to the government. Objections have been submitted. You have to try to escape from the pit you are going to fall into. We believe that there should be a strong negotiation with these parties.
Lazard and Clifford Chance financial and legal advisory companies are with Sri Lanka in debt restructuring. On the other hand, companies called Rockstyle and White and Hair. There is the question of who will lead the debt restructuring. Lazard and Clifford Chance are the organizations chosen to advise Sri Lanka on the debt restructuring process. There is no political leadership for this in Sri Lanka. In this regard, there is no scholarly discussion in the parliament.
Who will raise the voice for the people when they are going to be subjected to a bond until 2028. Only the economic group of the United People’s Force should come forward in this regard. No posting of analytical opinion. After the President Ranil Wickremesinghe signed in this regard, everyone will come to the streets. Then protests. Then you can get a political advantage. If you have a headache, join us. Come to the point where what needs to be done with the people should be done what the people can afford.
He has not received the third installment of the International Monetary Fund. To receive the third installment, the people of the Paris Club, Japan and China must agree. Even if an agreement was not signed with the private creditors, there should be an agreement to move in that direction positively. This is nothing. If an agreement is not reached, what will happen to the third installment of the International Monetary Fund? Will it benefit the country if we go to the point where we want to finish it before the election without fighting and doing what we need to get for the country? We invite anyone to come to a debate with us regarding the international debt restructuring. And we warned before the government went bankrupt. We told them to go to the International Monetary Fund to save the country. In the end, the country was bankrupted and the people were dragged into an abyss.
It is not Ranil Wickramasinghe’s money that is given in the decentralized budget
A member of parliament is given money from the decentralized budget according to requests to work in his area. Money has been given to everyone regardless of political differences. We do not benefit from these. Initially, the money from the scientific budget was given only to the people of the government. We fought when it was given only to the government. In no way does a person get this money. This money goes to the people. It is not Ranil Wickramasinghe’s money that is given in the decentralized budget. From the centralized budget, the MPs are given the tax money collected from the people’s milk powder packet and fuel litre.”
Whether in the government or in the opposition, continue to operate ‘suwasariya’ programme.
At present, 56 of the 322 ambulances of the Suvasarya ambulance service have become unusable. We are not going to get complacent by saying that. It doesn’t do that at all. Whether you are in the government or in the opposition, you are doing well. Stop and show if you can. Suvasarya ambulance service cannot be done with 1300. The staff should be increased to 2000. By now, permission has been given to recruit. But the basic salary is 35,000. 15,000 in incentives. How can you do a 24 hour service for this kind of salary? There is no place for the people in the Suvasarya Ambulance Service. He is in the police. The World Bank says that Suvasaria Ambulance Service is one of the greatest ambulance services in the world. 1990 is an essential service. The government should look into this. Tell me if there is a more efficient public service than in 1990. Minister of Health Ramesh Pathirana and the Treasury stated that they will provide full support to the Suvasarya Ambulance Service. The President should also support this. Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe, the Prime Minister of the country at the time of the inauguration. Also, the Indian High Commissioner was with me in the program to provide the Suvasarya ambulance service to Sri Lanka.”
Prabhaswara Agricultural Store must be opened
“Whether you are in the government or in the opposition, Sri Lanka’s first 5000 metric ton temperature and moisture control agricultural warehouse will be opened without fail. Stop if you can. After we left the government, we did not work to destroy Suvasariya. They did not protest to stop the Prabhaswara Agricultural Store because they left the government. We came to work for people. How much work does Mr. Sajith Premadasa, the leader of the opposition, do while being in the opposition? Sakwala, breath programs are not done by the government. No former opposition leader in the country has done such work.
If the united people’s force gets power, we can recover the fallen country
“If the United People’s Force gets power, we can recover this fallen country. We can bring 10 per cent economic growth in the next 10 years. We break the walls around the country and build bridges with the world. Tamil Nadu in South India has achieved an economic growth of one trillion US dollars by 2023. In the coming 10 years, the fastest developing regions in the world are Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana. These are not countries. But as big as countries. A city like Chennai has people like Sri Lanka. These states will grow rapidly in the future. Sri Lanka is 18 to 20 kilometers away. Economic growth will take place in the next 10 or 15 years. Therefore, what we should do is build Sri Lanka together with them. Under President Sajith Premadasa, we will recover this fallen country. That is why we are asking the people for an opportunity to tell the truth.”
