Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has accused the National People’s Power government of violating citizens’ rights and steering Sri Lanka towards an authoritarian system that could undermine democracy.
He was speaking at a public meeting in Lunugamvehera New Town, in the Tissamaharama electorate of the Hambantota District, called to discuss farmers’ grievances, Hiru News reported.
The sequence he describes
Premadasa alleged the government is running a national programme aimed at reducing citizen participation and narrowing the space for democratic engagement.
That programme began with youth society elections, he said, extended through civil security committees, and has now widened through the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution into governing the country according to a single political viewpoint. He alleged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s objective is to place the entire state machinery under one party and remain in power indefinitely.
The 22nd Amendment is already before the courts. The Supreme Court has concluded hearings on petitions challenging the bill, and the deadline for written submissions passed this week.
The economic charges
Premadasa listed promises he said the NPP made in opposition and has not kept: cutting electricity tariffs by 33 percent, supplying fuel at the price at which it is unloaded at the port, offering young people Vitz cars for Rs. 1.2 million, and guaranteeing a fixed paddy price of Rs. 150 per kilogram.
He alleged the government raised fuel and gas prices substantially before making only minor reductions, then promoted those reductions through publicity campaigns. Gas and tea prices were both cut on Saturday.
Turning to the President’s “son of a farmer” campaign image, Premadasa said the government has now restricted chena cultivation, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands, and that agriculture as a whole — paddy, field crops, vegetables, fruit and export crops — is in severe decline. The meeting came as more than 115,500 people across seven districts remain affected by prolonged dry weather.
A warning drawn from 2019
Premadasa cautioned the government against assuming it is politically invincible because it holds a two-thirds parliamentary majority, control of local government institutions and the executive presidency.
He recalled that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa secured 6.9 million votes and was still forced from office amid mass protests, and said the government should recognise that public sentiment ultimately determines the fate of any administration.
Not reported
Hiru News was the only outlet carrying the meeting at the time of writing, and its report contains no government response. It does not say how many people attended, who else spoke, or what specific relief the SJB is offering the farmers whose grievances the meeting was called to discuss. Premadasa’s claim about restrictions on chena cultivation is not detailed, and no source is given for the agricultural decline he describes.
