{"id":132146,"date":"2014-10-26T00:01:53","date_gmt":"2014-10-25T18:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=132146"},"modified":"2014-11-02T20:06:06","modified_gmt":"2014-11-02T14:36:06","slug":"the-vote-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-vote-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vote-Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

The JVP\u2019s Sunil Handunnetti<\/span><\/a> captured the Opposition\u2019s sentiments with regard to Budget 2015 best. He said \u2018\u0d85\u0daf \u0d85\u0dba \u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dba \u0daf\u0dd2\u0db1\u0dba \u0db1\u0dd9\u0db8\u0dd9\u0dba\u0dd2…\u0dc0\u0da9\u0dcf \u0dc4\u0ddc\u0db3\u0dba\u0dd2 \u0db8\u0dda\u0d9a\u0da7 \u0d85\u0dbd\u0dca\u0dbd\u0dc3\u0dca \u0daf\u0dd2\u0db1\u0dba \u0d9a\u0dd2\u0dba\u0dbd \u0d9a\u0dd2\u0dc0\u0dca\u0dc0\u0dcf \u0db1\u0db8\u0dca\u2019 (this is not Budget Day\u2026it would be more appropriate to call it Bribe Day).\u00a0 There was at once dismay (at the political impact of the budget) and acknowledgment that at least on the face of it the budget would resonate well with a wide cross section of the population.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something in it for everyone, this is clear. No, it\u2019s not that everyone got all the goodies in their respective wish-lists.\u00a0 The President is not Santa Clause. Santa Clause is pure fiction; the President has to deal with the real. \u2018The real\u2019 is about what\u2019s there to give. It is about who gets how much of what. Or at least, that\u2019s what we are supposed to think.<\/p>\n

It was bound to be a goodies-budget, a budget to please everyone. Except the Opposition. That\u2019s a no-brainer when there\u2019s a major election coming up. It\u2019s one of those benefits enjoyed by the incumbent. Nothing illegal about it of course, but the fact remains that the budget was presented not just by the President<\/span><\/a> (in his capacity as Minister of Finance) but a President who in all likelihood would be running for re-election a few months from now. That\u2019s to be expected from a politician and certainly from one who unarguably reads the political equation much better than anyone else around.<\/p>\n