AKD fires off missive to President Ranil

President Ranil Wickremesinghe

Anura Kumara Dissanayake

• Says Govt. formed through current Parliament has no mandate
• Tells President any talks or joining Govt. in current form futile
• Willing to consider acceptable program set within a time frame

By Maneshka Borham

National People’s Power party Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, writing to President Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding the implementation of an all-party program, has said that a Government formed through the existing Parliament under various titles does not have the mandate or the moral right to be in power. 

“A Government formed through the current Parliament under various titles such as ‘all-party’ or ‘multi-party’ has no mandate nor moral right to govern the country for a lengthy period of time,” he said.  

Instead, Dissanayake stressed that in order to create a new administration capable of providing permanent and long-term solutions to the current crisis, a general election must be called immediately, allowing for the people’s mandate. 

“If there was an honest effort to form an interim all-party program to offer short-term solutions to the most serious economic, political and social issues and relieve the sufferings of the people, that opportune moment arose after former President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa left the country. The moment to build an acceptable all-party Government with the agreement of all involved has now passed,” he said. 

Pointing out that the NPP presented a series of proposals to form such a Government, Dissanayake noted that Wickremesinghe instead of considering these, chose to be voted in as President with the support of 134 Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MPs and formed a ‘Ranil-Rajapaksa’ Government. 

“Now we have a Ranil-Rajapaksa Government that goes against the mandate of the people and is opposed by the citizens. You are now inviting us to join a Government already formed with the Rajapaksa faction.” “Thus, talking about an all-party Government is no longer realistic and a fruitless endeavour. Therefore, we strongly emphasise that it is futile to be a part of the Government in its current form,” Dissanayake added. 

However, Dissanayake also said on behalf of the people, the party is willing to consider and respond to any acceptable program set within a specific time frame to resolve the current crisis.