03 June, 2008 - Published 11:59 GMT

'Horn protest' against CoL

The main opposition in Sri Lanka has accused President Rajapaksa of having ‘regular parties’ despite the ever increasing cost of living.

Traffic in the capital, Colombo, was brought to a halt for few minutes as a result of protest organised by the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (M).

Opposition leader, Ranil Wickramasinghe, also took part in the protest in which vehicle owners sounded their horns.

UNP General Secretary, Tissa Attanayake, told BBC Sandeshaya that the government is not taking any measures to reduce ever increasing government expenditure.

The UNP urged President Rajapaksa to reduce his ‘mega cabinet’ and the number of Presidential Advisors in order to reduce the government expenditure.

Tissa Attanayake added that government can easily reduce the cost of living by reducing the tax imposed on petrol, currently Rs. 56 per litre.

The government announced 90 percent increase of train fares and 27 percent increase of bus fares last week.