<\/p>\n
Minister Jeevan Thondaman has addressed recent criticism regarding the Ceylon Workers\u2019 Congress (CWC) backing of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the 2019 presidential election, defending the decision while issuing a strong caution against the populist promises of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa, whom he referred to as \u201cPromise Premadasa.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a post on \u2018X\u2019, Thondaman explained that the CWC’s support for Rajapaksa in 2019 was based on his manifesto, which seemed to offer the best path for economic growth and tax relief. Representing a historically marginalised group, the CWC prioritized increasing daily wages to Rs. 1,000, an issue that businesses opposed due to a high-tax environment. \u201cWe supported GR\u2019s 2019 manifesto because it promised economic growth and relief for the public, including tax cuts,\u201d Thondaman explained, addressing journalist Kusum Wijesinghe from the SJB Youth Wing. \u201cWe believed his victory would best serve our community\u2019s interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the minister admitted that the economic crisis that followed prompted the CWC to reconsider their position. \u201cWe learned that populism does not solve economic problems,\u201d Thondaman stated, acknowledging that the CWC shifted its support towards President Ranil Wickremesinghe\u2019s focus on fiscal discipline and sustainable growth.<\/p>\n
Thondaman argued that under Wickremesinghe\u2019s leadership, Sri Lanka has seen improvements, including a 0.9% inflation rate, $6 billion in reserves, nearly 5% economic growth, and a reduction in the debt-to-GDP ratio. He emphasized that populist handouts only lead to currency depreciation and inflation, which he called the \u201cbiggest tax of all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The minister\u2019s most pointed criticism was directed at Premadasa, warning that his populist promises could undo the country\u2019s fragile recovery. Thondaman urged Premadasa to recognize the economic risks and withdraw his candidacy, suggesting he back Wickremesinghe\u2019s recovery plans instead. \u201cIf Sajith Premadasa understands the dangers of his false promises and admits the economy is too fragile to gamble with, he should step aside and support #RecoveryRanil, instead of being #PromisePremadasa.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CWC\u2019s evolving stance marks a significant political shift, with Thondaman advocating for long-term economic strategies to ensure national prosperity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister Jeevan Thondaman has addressed recent criticism regarding the Ceylon Workers\u2019 Congress (CWC) backing of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the 2019 presidential election, defending the decision while issuing a strong… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3063,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_205606689_205606689":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,16,13,531],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-local-home","category-main-story","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3064,"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3062\/revisions\/3064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ceylondailynews.lk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}