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Harsha denies he held talks on taking Finance Ministry

28 Jul 2022

In the backdrop of President Ranil Wickremesinghe relinquishing the post of Minister of Finance, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition MP Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday (27) denied that he had held discussions with any governing party member to become the next Minister of Finance.  Responding to media reports that claimed Dr. de Silva was tipped to be the next Finance Minister, he posted on Twitter that he has “not had any discussions with any member of the Government on the speculated position”.  “I 100% deny the reference to me in this rumour. I have not had any discussions with any member of the Government on the speculated position. I have continuously argued for an interim all or multi-party Government to rescue Sri Lanka from this crisis that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa put us into [sic],” he said.  He added that he believes that a multi-party Government is essential to “carry out the extremely tough reforms that are needed to deal with the Sri Lankan economic crisis”.  “For that, all party leaders must pause politics for nine to 12 months and agree to the common minimum programme that we prepared.” The SJB said this week that it would not join an all-party Government.  Wickremesinghe appointed his new Cabinet of Ministers, with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, on 22 July. Wickremesinghe, who held the Finance Minister position when he was the Prime Minister under Rajapaksa, presented his resignation letter from the Finance Ministry portfolio to the Parliament yesterday (27). This position remains vacant, even as Sri Lanka engages in crucial talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to obtain a bailout.  


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