When people oppose the decisions taken collectively by the government the President and the Prime Minister blame each other to indicate they are free from the guilt says the Member of the Political Bureau of the JVP Comrade Lal Kantaha.
Responding to a question posed by a journalist regarding the increases in VAT Comrade Lal Kantha said, “The President on many occasions has said he becomes aware of many things only from newspapers. He has learnt about the increase in VAT too from newspapers. The people should understand that not only the President fails to fulfil the responsibility as the leader of the state but also that the UNP, including Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, doesn’t get him involved in taking decisions for the country. The leader of the cabinet is the President. The Prime Minister and the UNP coalition are included in it. People are made to understand that decisions are not taken in the cabinet but secretly taken in the kitchen cabinet in Temple Trees or in a corner in Mr. Ravi Karunanayaka’s Finance Ministry. This is not so. They take decisions collectively. When people oppose such decisions they blame each other or take the responsibility individually to avoid people’s indignation. Avoiding responsibility in such a manner is indeed a fraudulent act.
Do you remember the proposal to increase salaries of Parliamentarians? When people’s opposition rose up against it the President said he was not aware of it but knew about it only from newspapers. The President is performing an act of his own. The people should know that both these groups collectively burden the people to obscure their impotency. This yahapalana government is the government that has become unpopular in the shortest period of time. The SLFP Members who have entered Parliament through votes of members of the SLFP and have wriggled into the cabinet to conceal their frauds and corruption and say ‘yes’ to all what Ranil Wickremesinghe says, lie to their party members.”