Colombo, June 10 (Agency) Those who voted for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the government too are somewhat responsible for the current political and economic crisis, former MP Basil Rajapaksa said in remarks published on Friday.Speaking after resigning from Parliament, Basil Rajapaksa, a brother of the President, said he was not interested in blaming people for the island nation’s worst economic crisis. According to him, everyone including journalists were responsible for the current calamity, The Island newspaper reported. “All governments since 1951 have borrowed money. If we go to a deeper level of analysis, those who voted for us too are partly responsible for the crisis,” he said.
Basil Rajapaksa added that he supports a Constitution that gives more power to the people. And more power should be concentrated in Parliament, he said. “The current crisis will not be over until a Constitution that gives power to the people is introduced. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received 6.9 million votes. How much did Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe get? I am against the move to transfer power from Gotabaya to Ranil.” The former MP said that he had faced no internal or external pressure to resign. However, given that the proposed 21st Amendment to the Constitution had provisions that he opposed, he decided it was best to leave. “Otherwise, people would say I tried to thwart it.
I am opposed to the clause that bars dual citizens from entering parliament. There are Prime Ministers in other countries who are dual citizens. If a Sri Lankan who holds a dual citizenship wants to contribute to Sri Lanka, he or she must be encouraged. “Rajapaksa added that the ruling SLPP would contest the coming elections, including the local government elections, scheduled for next year. “We have the highest number of local councillors. We are not afraid of elections.”