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Controversy over false tweet while Harsha accuses PM of giving wrong figures
The 2021 Budget was passed on Thursday with a two-thirds majority vote after three weeks of heated debates during the committee stage where allocations to different ministries were taken up.
But the final day Dec 10 began on a dramatic note with the opposition agitating over an alleged false tweet which is said to have originated from the official Parliament Twitter account.
Samagi Jana Balawegaya Parliamentarian Harin Fernando said the fake tweet account had similarities to that of COPE Chairman Charith Herath’s Tweet and the Derana and Hiru TV channels were misleading the people by telecasting the fake tweet. He requested the Speaker to summon before Parliament’s privilege committee those who were responsible for the tweet.
Chief government Whip Johnston Fernando took the opportunity to say that from the beginning he had been opposed to live telecast of the parliamentary proceedings. He said the then Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had set up a parliamentary media unit to attack the then opposition members. He said the Sirasa Channel telecast what it wished to as did the Hiru and Derana.
Opposition and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa said they were concerned about the false tweet with the parliament logo, but not with the live telecast. He said that in October last year, the live telecast had shown the people how some MPs tried to attack the Speaker.
Mr. Premadasa also said that his microphone was switched off as he was speaking and called upon the Speaker to protect the protect the freedom of expression, especially because the day was the World Human Rights Day.
The Speaker said the microphone was not switched off. Mr. Premadasa continuing his speech demanded that before the end of the day, Parliament should know as to who was responsible for the false tweet.
SJB Parliamentarian Harsha de Silva staring the last day of the debate on the allocations for the Finance Ministry said that during the Budget debate, the Prime Minister had quoted some wrong figures and requested him to correct them as they were contradictory to the Finance Ministry records.
Dr. de Silva, a leading economist, claimed that the expenditure incurred in 2020 had been added to 2019 to show that 2019 deficit was higher and 2020 lower than the correct figures. He requested that Parliament be told about the actual deficits of 2019 and 2020.
“Denial should not be the strategy,” Dr. de Silva said adding that international rating agencies had downgraded Sri Lanka’s economy. He warned that Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring was on an unsustainable path though the government had denied it.
However, government members argued that these rating agencies could not understand the alternative economic path of the government.
Dr. de Silva, however, responded that the government without being realistic, was venturing on an alternative economic theory which had proved to be a failure in many parts of the world and there was an abundance of academic material on the subject.
Joining the debate, the Central Bank’s former Governor and State Finance Minister Ajith Nivard Cabrral said the government had a long-term economic plan to develop the infrastructure and achieve long-term economic prosperity.
He claimed that the international community had growing confidence in the policies of the government as was evident in the US$ one billion investments in the Port city and other investment projects like the airport renovation.
He claimed that the opposition listened only to foreign powers, international organisations and the diaspora, while it seldom listened to the ordinary people. On the other hand, he claimed the government was focused on the underprivileged and ordinary people.
Joining the debate on Monday, Opposition Leader Premadasa asked the government to address the grievances of Wildlife officers. He said there were 357 voluntary guides serving in the National Parks for a daily allowance of Rs700 and requested that they be made permanent.
He also drew the attention of the Wildlife Minister to a particular circular, which he claimed was detrimental to forest conservation. He asked the minister to review the circular.
Wildlife and Forest Conservation Minister C.B. Ratnayake said the government was planning to add extra 40,030 hectares of forest lands to the Wilpattu National Park to increase the country’s forest cover with the addition of Mahawillu Forest Reservation.
Referring to the Court of Appeal order in the Rishad Bathiudeen, the minister said the Wildlife Department was taking steps for reforestation and a report would be submitted to the Court next month.
The minister also said that national parks brought in a revenue of about Rs.3 billion a year and he would take steps to fill the vacancies in the Department.
The Minister also pointed that a large sums of money had been allocated to solve the human-elephant conflict and o protect around 6,000 wild elephants.
On Tuesday, Opposition Leader Premadasa questioned the decision to stop the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Project which, he said, was the result of a long study to solve the traffic congestion crisis in Colombo. He said the congestion resulted in fuel wastage, pollution, and an increase in road accidents.
Mr. Premadasa said some of the previous government’s main projects were the modernization of the bus transport system, the LRT project and modernisation of the Kelani Valley Railway line.
Mr. Premadasa warned that Sri Lanka’s relationship with Japan might be harmed by the decision to scrap the LRT project. He also warned that other Japanese funded projects, especially the JAICA funded electricity transmission project, too would be negatively affected by the arbitrary decision of the Government
Responding to this, State Minister Cabraal said the Cabinet had decided last September to stop LRT project as part of a policy to manage the debt crisis.
Defending the government decision, Mr. Cabraal said the LRT project with an estimated cost of US$2300 million and the Kelani valley project could not be implemented simultaneously.
He said the two project were centred on Colombo and if implemented they might affect big projects in other parts of the country.