Former Prime Minister and Leader of the United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremesinghe says that Sri Lanka has fallen and its situation can be compared to that of Afghanistan.

Commenting on the current political situation, Wickremesinghe added that the people are fed up with “racist and religious politics”. Reassuring that there is a programme in place for the future, Wickremesinghe highlighted that going back to the old ways will not be a possibility. “The first is to provide short-term relief. Today the pandemic also caused extensive damage from the sinking of the X-Press Pearl. We need to start a corona-controlling program. Health care should be given priority. We need a medical advisory committee and an administrative committee to implement them as other countries do. These should be decided by the Cabinet. The Cabinet cannot be set aside. The Cabinet should decide on Parliament. There we all work together. That is the way we have to move forward. We don't have foreign exchange today to get vaccinated. Not everyone over 18 can be vaccinated today. There is a difficult situation. The first thing we have to do is get foreign exchange. Go to the IMF for that. Once obtained from there we can take loans from other countries on that guarantee. Therefore, one should start life first by taking loans and obtaining essential items,” he elaborated.