MP Harsha de Silva said that the Budget speech was a continuation of the previous government’s economic program.
MP de Silva said that while he doesn’t say that the program is wrong, it raises serious concerns about the government’s ideological stance.
“The JVP and NPP will have ideological questions to answer. What was discussed here was a neoliberal program. If they opposed such policies for 40 years but now accept them, what was the purpose of their past opposition?” he questioned.
“We saw no difference between this budget and the previous one,” de Silva said.
“If they now support establishing a holding company for state-owned enterprises or agree to the fuel and power pricing formulas, we must ask why they opposed them before?” The SJB MP said adding that the country could have progressed much earlier, if it wasn’t for their opposition.
“But if they now embrace a social market economy, we welcome that, and we see it as a victory,” he said. (Islandnews)
