SLPP National Organiser and MP Namal Rajapaksa accused the Government in Parliament on Wednesday of failing to deliver on its promises, saying the public was now waiting to see how many more it would make in the President’s third Budget.
Rajapaksa said the administration had come to office pledging to digitalise government services, beginning with national identity cards, but that the country was instead facing shortages.
“We came to power hearing promises about digitalising everything, starting with national identity cards. But today, fuel queues and gas queues have been joined by queues for tins. We are now waiting to count how many lies the President will tell in his third Budget,” he said, according to the Daily Mirror.
Fuel pricing
While acknowledging that the Government had provided some relief on fuel prices through the Aswesuma programme, Rajapaksa questioned why it had not honoured an earlier commitment to sell fuel at the price at which it was unloaded from ships.
He said the President had personally made that promise, and that ministers should explain its failure to him directly rather than telling the Opposition it was impractical.
Rajapaksa said fuel taxes had risen by around Rs. 30 against previous levels, limiting the benefit of lower pump prices, while milk powder and other essentials continued to press on household budgets.
Taxation
He accused the Government of increasing taxes despite assurances that VAT would be removed from essential items including school supplies, medicines and food. Taxes had instead been raised on vehicle imports, bank interest and consultancy services, including in the IT sector, he said.
“The Government talks about building a massive IT-driven economy, but at the same time it is imposing taxes on people in the IT sector who are struggling to earn a living without any meaningful assistance from the State,” he said.
Rajapaksa also argued that the Government had begun its digitalisation programme without first putting the necessary infrastructure in place, leaving the public to absorb the consequences of an unprepared system.
The Daily Mirror report is bylined Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama. No other newsroom reachable at the time of writing had filed on Wednesday’s remarks; search returned Rajapaksa’s June 2026 statements on fuel pricing, which are a separate occasion.
