Mixed reactions on Twitter to President’s speech
The immediate reaction to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s address to the nation last Tuesday night is mixed at best with many on social media calling it more of an “election speech” rather than a rallying call to the nation faced with a rapidly spreading coronavirus.
Former Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Member of Parliament Bimal Ratnayake expressed his disappointment.
“With all respect to d mandate, how poor was our president’s speech in a crisis situation. No appreciation of Health, Transport, Security workers who risk their lives. No clear guidelines for citizens, Institutions. No motivation. No spirit. Only Dhal,Saman(Sic) SLPP Election campaign!” he tweeted.
With all respect to d mandate,how poor was our president's speech in a crisis situation. No appreciation of Health,Transport, Security workers who risk their lives. No clear guidelines for citizens & Institutions. No motivation. No spirit.Only Dhal,Saman& SLPP Election campaign!
— Bimal Rathnayake (@BimalRathnayake) March 17, 2020
Others felt that the announcement of price reduction in Dhal and Canned fish was out of place in an address to the nation of this nature.
Others appreciated it. One post said giving the people two types of food which is easily stockable at a reasonable rate is great!
The President’s nephew and former MP Namal Rajapaksa appreciated the fact that Small and Medium scale Enterprises will have a moratorium on their loans.
බැංකු හා මුල්ය ආයතන සදහා ගෙවිය යුතු ණය වාරික මාස 6 ක කාලයකට නැවැත්වීමට ජනාධිපති @GotabayaR ගත් තීරණය මෙරට සුළු හා මධ්ය පරිමාණ ව්යවසායකයින්ට #COVID19 අර්බුදය තුළ ඇති වූ ආර්ථික පසුබෑමට මුහුණ දීමට ඉමහත් පිටුවහලක් වනු ඇත. https://t.co/nvYZ9Dngtv
— Namal Rajapaksa (@RajapaksaNamal) March 17, 2020
Academic Dr. Asanga Welikala took a tongue-in-cheek dig at the President’s supporters.
“What? First he couldn’t stop a cricket match, now he can’t delay an election. I’m sure those who voted for him are feeling thoroughly cheated by this presidential behaviour, especially those who really want a military dictator,” he tweeted.
What? First he couldn’t stop a cricket match, now he can’t delay an election. I’m sure those who voted for him are feeling thoroughly cheated by this presidential behaviour, especially those who really want a military dictator. https://t.co/OjL9y30AKS
— Dr Asanga Welikala (@welikalaa) March 17, 2020
The President’s supporters thought otherwise, saying Sri Lanka had done better than other nations with greater resources.
#SriLanka Govt led by @GotabayaR & army has done an GREAT job!
They curtailed panic & spread of #CONVID19 with limited budget!
Europe, US & Australia with unlimited budgets are in Chaos with high number of cases & deaths
They made max use of limited resources!#WeAreProud
— Andrew (@ADP255) March 18, 2020