COLOMBO – The Sri Lanka Podujana Preamuna (SLPP) has accused 10 constituent parties of the SLPP-led ruling coalition who sought a COVID-19 lockdown last Thursday (19) of conspiring against the government, with one cabinet minister going as far as to allege a foreign-backed regime-change plot.

Speaking to reporters on Monday (23), SLPP general secretary and MP, Sagara Kariyawasam, urged President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to look into a letter signed by the 10 party leaders, including such government heavyweights as Ministers Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila and Vasudewa Nanayakkara.

The letter had called for a lockdown of three weeks minimum to contain the rapidly spreading Delta variant of COVID-19, amid daily death tolls exceeding 150. The request came on the back of numerous other calls for tightened restrictions, which the government had turned a deaf ear to until Friday (20), when it finally relented upon a request by the country’s Buddhist prelates.

“The cabinet had decided unanimously that the country would not be locked down. Some of the ministers who had raised their hand to this decision at that very meeting came out and wrote a letter asking for an immediate lockdown,” Kariyawasam noted, urging the president to look into what sort of conspiracy might be behind these events, “because this isn’t the first time a request has been made this way outside the cabinet after consensus had been obtained’.

Meanwhile, the newly appointed Minister of Power, Gamini Lokuge, speaking at the same media conference said it looked as though the government members who had sought the lockdown have been used as an international cat’s paw. (Incidentally, Minister Weerawansa is known for his vociferous stance on “international conspiracies” throughout his career).

“Perhaps some people believe they too can do something similar to how the Taliban took over after the Americans left Kabul,” Lokuge said, adding, “We can see that [international powers] have trapped our folks very quickly.”

Lokuge’s position on lockdowns has been controversial.  In May this year, he was in the eye of a storm over a local lockdown in Piliyandala, reported to have been forcibly lifted using his political influence.

Echoing Kariyawasam, Lokuge said the 10 party leaders had gone against government consensus. “We are disappointed by what they did,” he said.

Kariyawasam complained that such objectionable action puts the government in an uncomfortable position.

“Parties in a coalition government have to act with more responsibility. They can seek a dialogue and arrive at a decision through consensus, but they shouldn’t write letters and distribute them to the media,” he said, adding, “We see these as lowly acts, and we respectfully ask the president to ensure such things don’t occur again.”

This isn’t Kariyawasam’s first public disagreement with Ministers Weerawansa and Gammanpila. On June 12, he demanded Gammanpila’s resignation from the energy portfolio, accusing him of conspiring to bring the party leadership to disrepute by increasing fuel prices. However, the minister and others in the government including Weerawansa maintained the decision to increase prices was taken by a cabinet sub-committee on the cost of living chaired by the president and participated by the prime minister.

Kariyawasam’s remarks, signed and released to the media on the official SLPP letterhead, prompted eight out of 11 parties in the ruling alliance to issue a joint statement accusing the SLPP general secretary of throwing the party into an unnecessary crisis before the public.

-economynext.com