President Maithripala Sirisena stated that the UNP will no longer have authority to manipulate or manage the economic affairs of the country.
“I allowed the UNP to manage the economy for the last three years. That ends now as I will take responsibility for all the economic affairs from now on” the President said during a political rally of the UPFA earlier today (20).
President Maithripala Sirisena said he would directly manage the economy through a special economic council headed by him, taking over the responsibility from the Prime Minister and the UNP.
Sirisena joined hands with the UNP to topple Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2015, ending the strongman president’s decade in power.
But since then their alliance has fractured, with Sirisena clashing with free-market champion Wickremesinghe over economic policy.
Tensions between the coalition partners have escalated over Sirisena’s efforts to extend his presidential term by one more year till 2021, a move that was shot down by the Supreme Court last week.
The UNP has indicated it may go it alone in the next general election in 2020.
Sirisena has publicly accused the UNP of being more corrupt than the Rajapakse regime which they both ousted.
