Not a single person in the country hoisted a black flag on the arrival of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sri Lanka, although some of the Opposition warned the government, said Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva.
He made these observations yesterday, at a press conference held at Sirikotha, the Political Headquarters in response to a query made by a media personnel.
He stated that some from the Opposition urged the people to hoist black flags on arrival of the Indian Prime Minister.
“But people did not listen to them,” the Deputy Minister said. “The media were eagerly awaiting for the people to hoist black flags to report. The people did not do so since they have taken the correct stance. The moderate people are guided by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The government can go to an election and win at any moment.”
He also said that the previous government attempted to increase foreign reserves with the money taken as loans. “It is ridiculous,” the Deputy Minister said. “We have to increase the net asset value and not the foreign reserves with the money taken as loans.”
He also said that this government had not sold anything but Mahinda Rajapaksa had. He added that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa sold the Army Headquarters in his capacity as the Finance Minister in 2011. He questioned as to what an amount of protests would have be staged had a UNP government done the same.
He also said that the per capita income increased during the previous regime, but the per capita debt increased even faster. He also said that although the SAITM has become an issue today, the previous government set it up.