Bandula criticizes Sarath’s response

Saturday, 07 December 2013 

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena has in a political debate in a private television station said that Deputy Finance Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama’s response in parliament to a question on per capita debt in the country was an idiotic one.

When JVP Propaganda Secretary, MP Vijitha Herath highlighted that the per capita debt is over Rs. 300,000 according to a response given by Dr. Amunugama in parliament, Gunawardena said that there was nothing called a “per capita debt” in economics.

Herath then noted that if the government speaks highly of the per capita income, which according to statistic s is over US$ 3,000, the per capita debt that amounts to over Rs. 300,000 needs to be highlighted as well.

However, Gunawardena reiterated that there was no term called per capita debt and that the question posed in parliament about it was an “idiotic” one.

“Does that mean that the deputy finance minister has given an idiotic response? If the question was an idiotic one, then why did he respond to it without explaining there was no such figure available?” Herath questioned.

“Are you saying that the response given by the deputy minister is also an idiotic one?” the JVP MP asked, to which Gunawardena said that it was so.

After making such a claim, Gunawardena tried to give an explanation when Herath said, “If a student asks an idiotic question, will the teacher give an idiotic answer? As you have admitted that the response by the deputy finance minister is an idiotic one, this is how the entire budget has been formed.”