MR highlights 3 major dangers faced by Sri Lanka

Colombo (News1st): Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa today (January 9) released a statement to the media, marking the 4th year since the fall of his government following the Presidential elections of 2015. In the statement, the Opposition Leader brought to light three major dangers that the country is facing, surrounding the economy, the breakdown of the governmental mechanism and the proposed new constitution. The Opposition Leader highlighted that the economy is in peril due to the mismanagement of the government. He stated that the United National Party's claims that they must borrow further to service debt is inaccurate and that the UNP has added 50% of the total debt onto the borrowings of his government. He further adds that his government had to manage the economy in a period during which they faced a war on terrorism, and a mass global economic crisis in 2008, issues that the present government does not have to face. The Opposition Leader also sheds light on the potential breakdown of the governance system due to the 19th Amendment. He states that the amendment bars the President from dissolving Parliament for four and a half years even if the budget is defeated and that it puts stability at risk even in cases where there is a rift within the government. The Opposition Leader added that another fear is that posed by the proposed new constitution. Mahinda Rajapaksa claims that through this draft constitution, the government seeks to divide the country into nine semi-independent federal units and that the move will weaken the central government while also giving rise to nine independent police commissions. Finally, he stated that in the face of all this, that he wishes to draw the attention of the people to the fact that the only political force capable of preventing these dangers from becoming a reality is the opposition alliance that he leads, which has an established track record of having overcome even challenges deemed impossible.

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