EX-UNP ministers attempt to mislead public: Susil

Someunitednational Party (UNP) MPS are trying to mislead the public by claiming that the country is heading towards anarchy, Public Administration, Home Affairs and Justice Minister Susil Premajayantha charged yesterday. Addressing a news briefing at the Prime Minister’s Office, he said there was anarchy only during the UNP period.

“These former ministers of the Unp-led government including sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe pretend to be genuine and smart before foreign envoys and the international community telling them that Sri Lanka has shifted to the Westminster system from the Presidential system,” the Minister said.

He said it was absolutely untrue and added the executive powers vested with the President under the 1978 Constitution remained unchanged except for a few changes introduced under the 19th amendment.

“We can assure that this Government won’t lead the country to anarchy and plunge into chaos,” the Minister added.

He said that the newly appointed ministers had been appointed based on a scientific method, unlike in the previous government.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Finance Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said the priority should be to tackle the prevailing economic and political crisis carefully and bring the county into a stabilized stage.

“The fuel formula introduced by the previous Finance Ministry was an utter mess. It did not help the economy sustain and move forward, rather, it burdened the people further,” Minister Yapa said.