The Hon. D.V. Chanaka

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Minister, you too are speaking under privilege.

¶ 02 Nalinda Jayatissa is here. From Committee Rooms 1 to 8, hold any press conference — I challenge Mahinda Jayasinghe. We will take you to court. We are now proceeding with legal action against the Deputy Minister in charge of Police. Do not hide behind privilege.

¶ 03 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, today you have brought a Bill to remove Presidents’ entitlements. I note that the previous government also removed many MP privileges. Vehicle permits were not given to MPs after 2019 when Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power, though 20,000 state officers got permits in Ranil Wickremesinghe’s time. None of the 225 MPs got permits from the last government. We have no issue cutting perks. But if a President faces risk due to actions taken for the country during their tenure, we request proper security for them. Some forget promises given to farmers and the public, but not those given to the LTTE diaspora. The diaspora would like to oust Mahinda Rajapaksa, remove his security, and cut his perks.

¶ 04 You are not only targeting the former President. Look at the former Navy Commander now under house arrest, based on the statement of an LTTE intelligence cadre. CID and Police are fabricating cases; an OIC was brought to CID and asked to give statements against the Navy Commander. That OIC went to the Court of Appeal and obtained a writ against such pressure. I table that order and the writ.

¶ 05 We have no issue with removing entitlements. As Ministers and MPs, we used minimal perks. In four years as Minister, though I travelled abroad over ten times on official work, I did not take a single ticket at state expense; nor did we charge even for serving tea to visitors; we did not take permits. So we are fine. But leaders must be given proper security. When President Anura Kumara Dissanayake leaves office, if threats come from the underworld, you will understand. The government has a duty to secure leaders if threats arise from what they did for the country. Mahinda Rajapaksa has no issue — he is ready to go to Medamulana, to Tangalle. If you do it to please someone, he will not mind.

¶ 06 Thank you.