Culprits of the former administration yet to be punished

Comments from RCB’s pre and post budget street polls:

(Pre budget)

1/3 of the cabinet is incompetent. Three wheel drivers are happy with the new oil prices and they hope for a reduction of fares in comparison with the 10 per cent concession on oil. A Government that corrects the wrong things is putting things in place. Culprits of previous administration are not being punished. The stable door was left open for the culprits and now the Government is searching for them. Now we are able to freely express our opinion unlike the previous regime. While the benefits to the public will take time, time should not be wasted on finding past mistakes but the authorities must evolve a transparent and accountable system for the future. It’s too early to comment on the progress of the new Government. The people need to eat and drink (to survive) but the previous regime imposed (many) taxes on them. Action against the culprits is slow. So far no benefits have passed to the people. Although it was promised that the Executive Presidency was to be abolished nothing seems to be happening. There are plenty of positives starting with oil prices. There seems to be some unseen hands working against this administration as well. Culprits can be punished using Presidential powers. The present Finance Minister is questionable and this will affect the image of the new Government. Performance of the Police seems to be okay and action has been taken against drug dealer Weli Suda and parliamentarian Duminda Silva. Ministers are working fast with the reduction in oil prices as one example. Fulfilling the 100 day programme is not possible without the existence of the Police Commission. Only the oil prices have come down. There are many more items that need to be reduced.. The whole programme needs more time than 100 days to fulfill. New brooms normally sweep well; this is also applicable to the new ministers. It’s still too early to assess the performance. The ministers were only recently appointed. It appears that no proper investigations have commenced on defaulters on corruption. No one so far has been taken into custody for allegations of bribery. The new Government is on track for justice and the police must toe the line. Suitable persons have been appointed to high positions, and to positions of Secretaries of ministries. You can't expect results in just 10 days; at least a month must lapse for some progress. I’m happy that good state officers have been appointed. We can expect justice since good officers have been appointed in the Police service. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe being an experienced politician has assigned suitable persons to run ministries. State power has not misused. Under the present administration, it is clear that there is no room for violation of the rule of law. Good governance has emerged, ending family bandism. Cost of Living: We have to wait and see after January 29th. There is insufficient time for everything to change to make comment. As Minister Sajith Premadasa says every Ministry must start work with a new audit. It is too early to decide on the progress of the new Government. Give them another 2-3 weeks. We are not happy with the appointment of new ministers. The Education Minister is not the best appointment. Arjuna Ranatunga should have been the Sports Minister. The Bribery Commission is powerless. Without empowering the department, corruption and bribery cannot be tackled. With regard to the Sajin Vaas Gunewardena matter, the Police seem to be helpless, People will lose confidence in the Police by such loopholes in the system. Why isn’t Duminda Silva arrested so far? Are the culprits still being tolerated? Arrest and deal with the culprits fast and get this done fast rather than spending time on development. Stop family bandism and corrupt persons from contesting elections. Evolve a system to clean up the election system; otherwise our system will get rotten.

Mahinda was destroyed by Namal, Basil and Wimal. Maithripala will have to take precautions from those who surround/are close to him.

Harsha (de Silva) should have been the Finance Minister. Ravi (Karunanayake) has a bad record with regard to public ventures.

(Post budget)

Regulations need to be issued for the private sector to give the salary increase of Rs. 2,500. This is an election budget Watch out … there will be a price increase after the (June) election.

Punish the offenders caught for importing narcot- Rice prices are still high and need to be slashed. The Executive Presidential system needs to be abolished. The public has been benefited by the budget Ministers are not taking adequate action against corruption in the country.

Some Ministers should have been given better ministries.

Police is free from political influence and they can work in a free environment.

Everywhere information is disseminated on corruption but the process against the ‘guilty’ is slow.

Where are the benefits of the oil price cut, shown in the vegetable price and the cup of tea mostly consumed by the ordinary man?

Empower the Bribery and Corruption Commission since its operation is not satisfactory.

The price cut in selected items has no impact on consumers. The monthly consumption in these selected items is hardly noticed.

Although prices have come down, there is no development plan in the budget.