The current Government will have to maintain the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), agreed upon by former President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the same way next year (2025), claimed former Parliamentarian Prof. Charitha Herath.

Speaking to the media, he said that the economic crisis that emerged in the country was a reason for the National People’s Power (NPP) to come to power. “The people's struggle (‘aragalaya’) which took place in 2022 (the series of protests demanding the resignation of the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and which sought a system change) helped the NPP to come to power. The country hoped that the NPP would bring solutions to the economic crisis. But, what we see is that the NPP is not in a position to bring a new economic solution to solve the economic crisis. The NPP-led Government will have to maintain the policies of the IMF agreed upon by Wickremesinghe in the same way in 2025. If the Government has to prepare the entire Budget for 2025 according to the policies of the IMF, it will be clear that a Wickremesinghe-led administration is leading the economic sector without the presence of Wickremesinghe,” he said.

He further said that it was becoming clear that the programme presented by the NPP to secure election victories and their actual economic programme are not two different ones. 

Speaking further, Prof. Herath said: “A mandate is when a majority of the people agree to the programme presented to the people by a certain party. We believe that the manifesto presented by the NPP to win the elections will be implemented. However, it seems that some activities are taking place outside the promises made by them. The political Party that received the second most votes is the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). If the Government withdraws from the programme presented to the people, we as the main Parliamentary Opposition, will inform the public and question the Government about it.”