• SLPP to meet Prez tmrw, JVP-NPP to oppose 

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition Parliamentarian Kabir Hashim said that the lack of transparency in the Government’s policies regarding domestic debt restructuring is an obstacle for the Opposition to reach a final decision on the particular matter.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (26), he said that the Government is following a very secretive programme regarding the restructuring of domestic debt. He also said that although the SJB, as the main Opposition Party, is yet to come to a definite opinion regarding the restructuring of domestic debt, if the Government continues to act in this way, the SJB will act against it for the welfare of the public. He said that the SJB would discuss the matter further and reach a final decision in this regard. Commenting further, he said that the Government should deal openly with other parties regarding the domestic debt restructuring programme. “The Government is trying to do this secretly. We have not received any details about the programme which is to be followed by them. So, how do we present our opinion on this? The responsibility of the Government is to openly deal with the Opposition in this regard. A meeting with party leaders to discuss this matter is to be held tomorrow (27). We were informed that it has been postponed to next week. So, the issue we have is how we deal with this when the Government behaves in this manner,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking to The Daily Morning, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) General Secretary, Government MP, and attorney Sagara Kariyawasam said that although the Government has said that domestic debt restructuring will be done, they have not been notified about how it will be done and that therefore, the party cannot express a definite opinion on it. He also said that a meeting has been arranged between the ruling SLPP and President Ranil Wickremesinghe tomorrow (28) and that they hope to discuss this matter then.

However, when contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) Opposition MP Vijitha Herath said that they will not support the domestic debt restructuring process.

Recently, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe stated that an extended bank holiday was declared from 29 June to 3 July 2023, in order to obtain the necessary time required for the domestic debt optimisation strategy of Sri Lanka. Making a special statement regarding the matter on 25 June, he also assured that no deposit in any bank in the country will be affected in the process of restructuring domestic debt and that interests will not be affected.

Several attempts made by The Daily Morning to contact the Freedom People’s Congress Leader and Opposition MP Dullas Alahapperuma, Opposition MP and attorney Udaya Gammanpila representing the Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya and Tamil National Alliance Opposition MP, President’s Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran on this matter proved futile.