LEN - www.lankaenews.com | GMOA “Radical Faction” Issues Fresh Threats – How Can a Democratic Government Bargain with a Medical Trade Union Held Hostage by Extremists?

GMOA “Radical Faction” Issues Fresh Threats – How Can a Democratic Government Bargain with a Medical Trade Union Held Hostage by Extremists?

-By a Special Correspondent

(Lanka-e-News -26.Nov.2025, 9.35 PM) Sri Lanka’s Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has once again issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the government, vowing to escalate what it calls “trade union action” – a campaign that has already endangered patients, including those at the National Cancer Hospital.

In a statement released this week, the union’s hardline faction warned that failure by the government to meet its demands within two days would trigger “severe trade union action,” a decision expected to be formalised at the central committee meeting scheduled for the 26th. The threatening letter has since circulated widely (a copy appears in the image referenced).

Demands Rejected – Yet Agitation Continues

During recent discussions with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, GMOA officials pressed for vehicle permits, increased fuel allowances and an enhanced DAT allowance. The President explained that such economic concessions were impossible under current fiscal conditions.

However, despite this explanation, the union continued its agitation uninterrupted, even during – and arguably in support of – the “Namal Rajakarawana Rally” held on the 21st, placing vulnerable patients at further risk.

Economic Realities and the GMOA’s Position

The President had made clear the country’s economic constraints, including the strict macro-economic targets that must be maintained until 2028. Granting the union’s demands, he warned, would jeopardise these benchmarks.
Yet the union’s radical wing refuses to relent, placing patients – already grappling with illness – in the line of fire to leverage its demands.

Budget Allocations Undermine GMOA Claims

In stark contrast to the narrative promoted by opposition politicians and the GMOA’s militant faction, the government’s latest budget allocates an unprecedented Rs. 654 billion to the health sector. Of this:

Rs. 43 billion is earmarked for hospital development,
Rs. 187.7 billion for medicines, medical supplies, and equipment,
Rs. 24.9 billion for capacity development of health staff.

Moreover, the second tranche of the public-sector salary increase – first announced in the previous budget – is due in January 2026. Doctors alone will receive an additional Rs. 10,000–20,000, while the April salary adjustment already raised medical officers’ pay by Rs. 40,000–80,000, including increased allowances and revised tax thresholds.

This year’s budget also restores the long-lost pension entitlement removed in 2016, benefiting more than 12,000 doctors.

Opposition Misinformation – and the Real Numbers

Despite these figures, opposition MPs – during the health budget debate on the 22nd – repeated the GMOA’s talking points, particularly allegations of a worsening drug shortage.

The facts tell a different story.

The shortages that surfaced in recent months stemmed not from the current administration but from procurement delays during the Ranil–Rajapaksa administration. Over the past months, 90% of the shortage has been resolved, yet the GMOA leadership and opposition politicians continue to claim, without evidence, that the situation is “worsening daily.”

This, quite simply, is false.

A Government Under Siege by a Small but Disruptive Group

It has become increasingly clear that this militant subgroup within the GMOA – now openly aligned with elements of the fragmented opposition – is pursuing a political, not professional, agenda: to destabilise a government attempting to stabilise the economy, crack down on narcotics and organised crime networks, restore discipline within the public sector, and recover stolen public assets.

Why should a democratic state continue to harbour individuals within the public service who spread disinformation, sabotage critical health services, and seek to undermine governance?

Fewer than 100 extremists, operating under the banner of the GMOA, hold the system hostage. Behind the shield of union membership – and often exerting pressure on their own colleagues – they orchestrate actions that directly harm the public.

Decisive legal action, including removal from the public service, may now be necessary if the government is to proceed with its reform agenda without obstruction.

— By a Special Correspondent