The main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made a fundamental mistake by helping the Government of Sri Lanka. Kiriella said it was wrong on the part of the IMF to help a government that did not have a mandate to conduct economic reforms. The senior SJB MP made these remarks in an interview with the Lankadeepa newspaper. The MP said that the International Monetary Fund had announced last September that it would help a government with a mandate capable of reforming public institutions and the country hoped that the government would hold an election accordingly and get a new mandate. He also pointed out that if the current government sells public institutions without a mandate, unrest will arise among the employees and the country could experience bloodshed.