Premadasa extends support to Govt. to implement people-friendly measures

• Says will support shelving of MCC, other controversial agreements including SOFA, ACSA
• Requests Govt. to bring Budget before April and promises support to pass it

Newly-appointed Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa made his maiden speech in Parliament yesterday by extending support to the Government to take forward any people-friendly policies, including shelving the $ 480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact.

Sajith Premadasa

“Over 6.9 million people voted for the President. As the Opposition Leader I would like to say that we, as the Opposition, will give our full support to implement the progressive proposals of the Government,” Premadasa said.

He requested the Government to present a Budget for 2020 without waiting until April or May. “I request the Government to present a Budget for this year as soon as possible. No need to wait for that until April or May. We will give our support to pass the Budget,” he said.

Participating in the adjournment debate on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s policy statement to the House, Premadasa said the UNP would also extend support to shelve the MCC. “Let us discuss the MCC, Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), Acquisition and Cross Services Agreement (ACSA) and the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. You promised to shelve these during the election campaign, so let us do that together,” he said.