NOT A TIME TO PLAY ADVERSARIAL POLITICS– RANIL WICKREMESINGHE

Crisis is completely new. Not only here but in the rest of the world also the oppositions are active in giving out their viewpoints We would like the government to succeed. That is why we are asking for testing How can we expect a globalised trading system or a semiglobalized economy to operate when there is no leadership?

- Easwaran Rutnam

As Sri Lanka fights the Coronavirus a different sort of battle is beginning to build. A battle between the Government and the opposition reconvening parliament to pass new laws to address the current crisis in the country. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has already indicated he will not reconvene the old parliament and instead Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has called for a meeting with former MPs today (Monday) which some former MPs have said they will boycott. Leader of the United National Party, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe meanwhile told Daily Mirror that now is not the time to play adversarial politics. He said that his party is pushing for new lockdown laws to address the issue in the country.

Excerpts:

Q Mr. Wickremesinghe, what is your take on the current situation in the country with regards to the Coronavirus?

The problem is that the countries which have really been able to have some grip on it have done extensive testing. Germany was doing a hundred thousand a day. South Korea did 20,000 a day. We are half the population. We don’t have the capacity, England is trying to bring in testing. I think Italy has started. It will be necessary, especially if you want the economy to function and there should be a gradual easing of the lockdown. But that can be done only if there is testing and then you look at the areas where the virus is low. You go ahead, you use the lockdown, and then if there is any sign of the virus catching on, you put it in again. Otherwise, there would be panic. So we do recommend that you do the testing and at least start with 3,000 and build it up. You have to get the equipment from abroad, you have to get the masks from abroad. We don’t have enough from what I understand, but this is the approach that has been suggested.