19 May 2022 09:46 am
SJB thinking of marginalizing me
We won’t marginalize you but will incorporate you
By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa were engaged in an open dialogue in Parliament yesterday for the first time after the two split giving birth to the Samagi Jana Balawegaya(SJB),
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who started the dialogue said in a lighter vein that the SJB was not involved in the recent violence where residences and business establishments of former Ministers and MPs were destroyed. “I don’t think the SJB was involved in the violence it does not have time for such things as they spent the whole 24 hours thinking how they could marginalize me,” the Prime Minister said.
“We don’t want to marginalize you but want to incorporate you as you are a single member of Parliament,” Premadasa said.
The Prime Minister then made a request from the Leader of the Opposition where he requested the SJB Leader to provide medicine under its “Husma” programme.
“ Provide us with one kind of medicine as there is a serious shortage of essential medicines in rural hospitals. There is a shortage of medicine used for heart disease and disabilities,” the Prime Minister said.
“ The Husma programme has been designed to provide life saving medical equipment and not to provide medicine. However you name a medicine you know and we will do our best to provide it. We cannot provide medicine to the whole nation but we will do our best,” Premadasa said.