• Says country will be pushed to a more perilous state than Feb., 2022 otherwise

Noting that the country's economy has been stabilised through very difficult economic growth-related measures, President and Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the Government would take strict action against any group which attempts to disrupt the economic progress through agitations, while also noting that the Government would however accept the people's right to express their ideas and hold protests peacefully.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday (7), he said: “We took many extremely difficult economic growth measures and worked for economic stabilisation. Efforts are now being made to ensure economic growth. Everyone in the society is affected by this, but we have brought the country to a progressive level in the last seven or eight months. Economic reforms are needed to move forward. Everyone should understand it. The pressure groups, political parties, voluntary groups and trade unions should think deeply about this. Professionals say that the tax burden is high. However, this situation should be maintained for a short period of time. Otherwise, if this programme is disrupted, the country will be pushed into a more dangerous situation than it was in February 2022.”

If such a situation arises again, he said that the Government would have no means to pay salaries and pensions, the industries would collapse and jobs would be lost, and the schools would have to be kept closed. “These situations have been controlled to some extent, but if the groups that can influence the society disrupt the programme that we have proposed through various measures, the resulting social change will be extremely dangerous. There will be a difficult time that has not been seen in our society so far. That is why I say that we accept the people's right to express opinions. Holding peaceful meetings and demonstrations is not a problem. However, if they are going to disrupt these through agitations, this Government will act strongly on it," he said.

Speaking further, he said that the country would not be in the present situation if it collapsed on 9 July 2022 (the day of the massive protests in Colombo and all parts of the country which demanded the resignation of then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Government led by him). Wickremesinghe said that he was thankful to the Tri-Forces and the Police, adding that the country is currently in possession of sufficient stocks of fuel and other commodities due to the actions that they (the security forces) had taken. Emphasising that he would not allow any force to disrupt the progressive situation in the country, the President also invited the Opposition parties to join hands with the Government to work on achieving further economic growth.

The country saw a series of massive protests in 2022, which demanded the resignation of Rajapaksa, then Prime Minister and incumbent Government Parliamentarian Mahinda Rajapaksa, then Finance Minister and incumbent Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa, and the Government. The protest movements reached their climax when masses gathered in Colombo and occupied several State owned buildings including the Presidential Secretariat, the President's House and the Temple Trees (the Premier's official residence), which also resulted in Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation. Wickremesinghe, who was elected as the President in a Parliamentary vote in July 2022, has since been seen directing the security forces, mainly the Police, to take strict actions against protest movements.