Weerasekera blames Gotabaya's failed policies for crisis

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Former Minister of Public Security, Rear Admiral (Retd.) Sarath Weerasekara on Wednesday (9) criticized the decisions taken by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government.

Weerasekera was a minister under then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and he told Parliament that despite explaining to the former President the need to involve the people to overcome the economic crisis, those pleas fell on deaf ears.

"I questioned the cabinet if our foreign policy was neutral, why can't we purchase oil from Russia? I was told that it cannot be done cause of American pressure," said the MP from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.

He said a failed foreign policy angered China, Russia, and even Japan and Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to flee the country because he did not implement Sri Lanka's foreign policy properly.

"He did not accept the advice on the economy. He worked against all economic principles. Eventually, India and the US stepped away," he told the house.

However, MP Hesha Vithanage from the opposition slammed the Former Minister for trying to pin the blame on Gotabaya Rajapaksa alone for the collapse in Sri Lanka and stressed that the then-cabinet of ministers is collectively responsible for the downfall of Sri Lanka.