SJB demands entire agreement with IMF, refuses to take part in vote

By Saman Indrajith

The Opposition was not in a position to back the IMF/EFF facility at the vote scheduled to be taken on Friday (28) as the government had not submitted the entire agreement with the IMF, Chief Opposition Whip SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella told Parliament yesterday.

Participating in the three-day debate on the IMF/EFF facility, Kiriella said: “How could one expect us to vote for an agreement, part of which has been hidden from us. The agreement is yet to be tabled in this House. What has been given to the MPs so far is the request letter sent by the government to the IMF. What we demand to see is the agreement that the government entered with the IMF. What sort of debate is this when the cause of debate is only a guess and inference in our minds? Nobody knows anything about the contents of this agreement. What is the meaning of this debate? As such, how does the government expect us to vote in support of this agreement?”Kiriella said that those speaking from the government ranks in this debate

stated that everything has turned for the better and the economy has been uplifted as the government managed to solve the financial mess. “If everything is rosy, then the government should be in a position to release funds to conduct the elections. If the economy has improved then the next step for this government is to hold the local council polls to let the people elect their representatives,” Kiriella said.