The Hon. (Ms.) Lakmali Hemachandra

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member.

¶ 02 From morning, senior Opposition MPs made heavy statements about the JJB Government’s path. Our mandate came from working, ordinary, poor people. We know their current suffering without the Opposition reminding us. Poverty rose by around 25 percent over four years; inequality widened sharply in the last two; access to health, education, transport, and jobs declined. That is exactly why people sent us here.

¶ 03 Some senior MPs argue we are following Ranil Wickremesinghe’s path with the IMF and bonds. Let me be clear: before the elections we stated in our manifesto that we would engage with the IMF and remain within a program—responsibly, on our terms for the people. We never peddled fairy tales. Do not fight straw men. We are responsible leftists; leftism is not hooliganism or destruction. We will move slowly and steadily in the right direction, as Hon. (Prof.) Anil Jayantha said this morning.

¶ 04 On debt restructuring: two days before the Presidential Election, the then Government reached an in-principle understanding with private bondholders. We had to decide whether to walk away and send a negative global signal, or accept the challenge and move forward. As the State Minister of Finance, Hon. Anil Jayantha, said this morning, delays cost us an extra USD 1.7 billion in interest—money that should go to education and health. We chose to bear the responsibility and proceed to conclude the process and rebuild.

¶ 05 To those who now attack, remember: you were part of Governments that led us into this debt pit. Take responsibility. On the President’s expenditure head: unlike Ranil Wickremesinghe’s, President Anura has reduced the allocation for his personal staff by 64 percent, even as the WFP’s USD 1,300 million support routed via the Presidential Secretariat is reflected. Do not mislead the public.

¶ 06 Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Cabinet was comprehensively rejected; to my knowledge only Hon. Jeevan Thondaman remains here from that Cabinet. Yet many in today’s Opposition tacitly backed those programs then, claiming they would support the President’s agenda. Today, they accuse us of continuing it. We opposed IMF measures in this House earlier because that Cabinet had no public mandate to enter agreements; hence we demanded elections. As a State, however, we are bound by external commitments and must act lawfully.

¶ 07 Our mandate is to re-include those expelled from the economy—SMEs that collapsed, apparel workers, especially women who lost jobs. We do not want a path that squeezes people for taxes to pay debt while excluding them from growth. We need a fresh mandate to deal with the world while standing with our people, and we have it.

¶ 08 We will also bring a new Constitution ensuring equality and dignity for Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher and Malay citizens, wherever they live and whatever they believe, enabling inclusive participation in the State. We will present the necessary political solutions.

¶ 09 We stand with the people—past, present and future. Those who bankrupted the country need not lecture us.

¶ 10 Thank you.