10th Parliament· 154 sittings on record · 30,475 speeches · latest 10 June 2026

The Hon. Rohitha Abeygunawardhana

New Democratic Front· Kalutara· 5 February 2026 ·Oral question: Oral Question: Liquor Licensing and Tax Revenue (Q.912/2025)

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Rohitha Abeygunawardhana argued that consumption of “gal” liquor is widespread, including at social events such as funerals, and said general statements about liquor were misleading. He suggested that the new Government could reduce health-related burdens by lowering the price of a bottle of “gal,” addressing the Deputy Minister directly on the matter.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 Not coconut; now they drink “gal”. These days, mostly “gal”. Even at funerals they drink “gal”; everywhere it is “gal”. So, if under the new Government you serve people in a new way and reduce hospital expenditure, if the price of that rock bottle is reduced, Hon. Deputy Minister, it would be a big thing. Let us not talk in generalities about liquor; those are false.

Provenance

Source
Hansard, Thursday, 5 February 2026 ·No. 23269 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Rohitha Abeygunawardhana. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 5 February 2026. No. 23269. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/12918