• Chief Opp. Whip suggests President must be humble and take cue from Indian PM 
• Says President has failed in Constitutional responsibility of providing for citizens
• SJB to introduce draft bill to House shortly to abolish Executive Presidency

Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella yesterday told President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to take a cue from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apologise to the people of the country for the economic hardships they are facing today.

“The President is bound by the Constitution to provide all citizens with an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing and ensure a continuous improvement of living conditions  but he has failed to do so. He must apologise to the people for failing to do so, ” Kiriella said.

He said the Indian Prime Minister had  apologised to farmers after his Government was forced to withdraw several farm laws after continued protests for close to a year. 

“Leaders must be humble. They must rule with humility. He must learn from India ,” the Opposition Chief Whip said.

Kiriella also revealed that the SJB is committed to abolishing the Executive Presidency.

“When we brought the 19th Amendment to the constitution, we had only 45 MPs but we managed to discuss with all parties and get the needed 2/3rd support for it. We can do this again,” Kiriella said.

He added that the SJB will introduce a draft bill to the House shortly to abolish the Executive Presidency and asked the Government to support the move.

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