Don’t blame us for elephant killings and US tariffs: Opposition

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

Dismissing a claim made by Minister of Environment Dammika Patabendi that there is an organized conspiracy to destroy Sri Lanka’s wild elephants and on the allegations that they are sabotaging the government’s economic development programme, the opposition said it is not right for the government to blame the opposition for all adverse situations.   

“Why blame us for the elephant killings. You cannot blame us for the accident which killed an elephant after being hit by a train. Was it us who took the elephant near the train,” MP Namal Rajapaksa questioned.   

He said the government should not politicize the human elephant conflict,” he added.   

MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake who spoke later also came up with the same remark. “The opposition never took the elephant near the moving train” he also said.   

“You say that we in the opposition are sabotaging the economic development programme. It is the US President Donald Trump who is sabotaging the economic development programme by imposing tariffs on our exports. We never asked Trump to impose tariff on Sri Lankan exports. We hardly know him. However, I do not know whether opposition leader Sajith Premadasa associates with Trump,” the MP said.