The Rajapaksa government, having broken the world record for the largest number of Ministers, is on the verge of creating another record for the least amount of work done, with the most amount of borrowed money, UNP MP Gayantha Karunathillake said yesterday.

He told a news conference in Colombo, that as a result of the government rejecting IMF conditions for aid and borrowing large sums of money from various banks at high interest rates, the state coffers are virtually empty.

"The monies borrowed have been squandered due to inefficiency and corruption and the government has now no option left, but to beg for financial assistance from the IMF, which it had rejected lock stock and barrel.

It is also increasing taxes so that more money can be found to fund the extravagant lifestyles of the President and his Ministers."

The Cabinet is periodically expanded without any concern for the effect it has on the treasury, but the government stubbornly refuses to comply with the Supreme Court directive to reduce the price of a litre of petrol to Rs.100, in keeping with world market conditions, Karunathillake said. "It is so drunk with power that judicial orders are disregarded with impunity."

He said that the Supreme Court order was made in the interest of the poor suffering masses, but the Rajapaksa government which claims to represent the downtrodden, has decided to ignore it, while falsely claiming that it respects the judiciary.

The government’s strategy of holding staggered elections, Karunathillake said, enables it to use the entire State machinery in one region, to the detriment of opposition political parties. "In the absence of independent Election, Police and Public Service Commissions, the government is winning polls by resorting to unlawful methods."