Harsha insists MS didn’t mean taking over economy

Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha De Silva took to Twitter to clarify that President Maithripala Sirisena did not mean to say that he was taking away the responsibilities of the economy from the United National Party.

President Sirisena on Saturday evening said that he was taking away the responsibilities of the economy from the UNP which handled the economy for the last three years.

However, Dr. de Silva claimed that the President did not mean he would take over the responsibilities but merely meant to use the National Economic Council which Sirisena chairs regarding the ‘national economy’.

“Spoke to Pres @MaithripalaS. He insisted didn’t mean taking over responsibilities of PM @RW_UNP but only use NEC more re ‘national economy’,” he said on his official Twitter account.

The tweet drew both criticism and support, with some pointing out that Sirisena clearly meant taking over decision-making in the future not referring to the functions of the National Economic Council which was set up months ago.

However, Dr. de Silva maintained that Sirisena was only referring to the NEC, not anything beyond.

In reply to a question posed on Twitter highlighting that the NEC was set up months before not as a result of Saturday night’s statement, de Silva tweeted, “Yes. That is right. NEC has President PM FinMin some others. He took time to explain to me what he meant at Bogollagama wedding now.”