Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa held a bilateral meeting on Saturday with Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Isabelle Martin at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition in Colombo, where he renewed his call for the International Monetary Fund to ease the conditions attached to its support programme.
Premadasa told the envoy that priority should now be given to relief, reconstruction and restoring livelihoods in communities still recovering from Cyclone Ditwah, and reiterated his appeal for a more flexible IMF framework as Sri Lanka heads toward a likely successor programme. He also expressed appreciation for Canada’s climate-finance assistance, singling out the CAD 5 million “Access Sri Lanka” project funded by Global Affairs Canada, which supports climate-smart agriculture and marginalised female farmers in the Dry Zone.
The two sides discussed democratic governance, human rights and ethnic reconciliation. Premadasa reaffirmed his commitment to the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and said Provincial Council elections were essential for an inclusive democratic system — a position the Election Commission this week told parliament it was ready to deliver under any voting system the legislature settles on.
Both sides also discussed expanding economic ties, with reference to recent initiatives from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka aimed at boosting bilateral trade, attracting investment and integrating Sri Lanka into Canada’s wider Indo-Pacific commercial strategy, Newswire reported.
