Eran says SJB will start renegotiation with IMF immediately after Sajith becomes President

SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne 

SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne has revealed that once Sajith Premadasa becomes the President of Sri Lanka on 22 September, the SJB will immediately get into strengthening governance, restructuring of debt, and renegotiating with the IMF after appointing a caretaker Cabinet prior to dissolving Parliament.

“Soon after Sajith Premadasa becomes President, the Parliament will be dissolved after appointing a new Cabinet of Ministers. We will not wait till the end of the general election – we will start maintaining macroeconomic fundamentals, which is the main task of a government,” emphasised SJB Parliamentarian Wickramaratne, speaking among a representative gathering in Rajagiriya yesterday evening.

Wickramaratne, on the need for more professionals coming forward to take the task of governance and administration, said that he and Karu Jayasuriya were the only two corporate sector professionals who came to politics.

“Unfortunately in Sri Lanka, unlike other countries, politicians do not come from a working background. There are politicians vying for power but they do not have the working experience. Some of them have never held a paid job or a business of their own. So can a country sustain by electing such people to power?” queried Wickramaratne.

Citing an example from neighbouring India, the MP pointed out that Manmohan Singh, who was a civil servant working in New York, was brought into politics and made the Minister of Finance of India. When he decided to float the exchange rate, the Opposition alleged it was for him to get undue advantages to his foreign currency savings. Then, he made the declaration of his assets, including the foreign currency account. Later, he donated all his revenue from foreign currency accounts to a Government fund. That created a huge confidence in him and his policies. These are the types of public servants and professionals Sri Lankan politics need at this juncture to develop the country, Wickramaratne emphasised.

He also said that, though some who have no experience in administration or governance are misleading the people saying politicians are corrupt and stealing public wealth, that for the last few years, local Government institutions have had no political leadership but there had been no reduction in corruption in these public sectors. Can a person still get his plan approved without paying bribes to the officials concerned? Likewise, can they get a permit to fell a coconut tree from a DS office, or a clearance report from a local Police station, without paying something? People can’t stand in with public service now. People have identified who is going to make the biggest problem for them. There is an in-built institutional corruption in the public service.

Unless some major steps are taken, there may be another agitation (Aragalaya) because public sentiments on corruption in politics and the public service have changed. Therefore, the SJB will make structural changes in the public service to make it independent, he said.

With regard to SOE reforms, Wickramaratne said that private sector participation (PPP) will be introduced to major SOEs while some others will be shut down under the new SJB Government’s reform policy that would help rationalise public expenditure.