UNP created middle class, Rajapaksa regime destroyed it: Ranil
By Dharisha Bastians
The United National Party had built a middle class in Sri Lanka that the Rajapaksa administration has destroyed over the past decade, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe charged yesterday.
Speaking to UNP polling agents in Kotte yesterday, Wickremesinghe claimed that while President Mahinda Rajapaksa had promised that the savings from concluding the war would be passed on as a dividend to the people, this had not transpired.
“The middle class, the common people and the farmers find it very difficult to survive today. After winning every election, the Rajapaksa regime claimed it had obtained a mandate from the people, and continued to increase fuel, electricity and gas prices,” the Opposition Leader said.
He added that all the while, members of the Rajapaksa administration had been living the high life.
The Opposition Leader reiterated his demand for a Rs. 10,000 wage hike for public servants and up to 25% reductions in electricity tariffs.
“This Government reduces prices by special gazette. And then it increases them again, also by special gazette,” Wickremesinghe claimed.
The Opposition Leader said top US economists like Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz had argued that IMF theories low inflation and low interest rates do not work to spur economic growth.
Wickremesinghe said that Stiglitz had said two months ago that there was no point focusing on inflation alone. “It is the two issues of income and unemployment that must be addressed to go forward,” he explained.
“There is no point in having low interest rates from banks and low inflation if the people’s income is not raised,” Wickremesinghe claimed.
The UNP’s vision was to develop the industries sector and create one million jobs within five years, with significant foreign assistance, the Opposition Leader asserted.