The Hon. J.C. Alawathuwala

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, I move the following Cut-off Motion:

¶ 02 “In respect of the Heads of Expenditure bearing Nos. 130, 253 to 279, 312 to 319, 321, 193, 221 and 328 taken up today, Wednesday 19.11.2025, during the Committee Stage of the Appropriation Bill 2026, all Recurrent and Capital Expenditure under each Programme be reduced by Rs. 10, in accordance with the established practice.”

¶ 03 Hon. Chairman, this is a very important Ministry. Under it, a vast number of public institutions and officers fall within its purview: Provincial Councils; local authorities – 332 urban and pradeshiya bodies; 338 Divisional Secretariats; over 14,000 Grama Niladhari divisions, and many more. Therefore, this Ministry is crucial.

¶ 04 During the Budget Debate, Government MPs and some Ministers repeatedly spoke of the “70 years.” Then they jumped to “76 years.” Hon. Minister Bimal Rathnayake, you always say this. But why are you not speaking about the 77th year now? Do not avoid it. You built your political lives talking about that past period. You criticized in Opposition; that is fine. But now, some Ministers said when starting the Budget Debate that when they took over the country there were queues for fuel and gas. We must ask clearly: is that true?

¶ 05 Do not insult the intelligence of the people. A Cabinet Minister – a university professor – said this. If a backbencher had said it, we could ignore it. Hon. Leader of the House, as an experienced MP and former Minister, please advise them. You cannot govern with lies. Society is informed today. It is disgraceful for a Cabinet Minister to mislead.

¶ 06 Let me place some figures. GDP at current market prices in 2018 was Rs. 15,352 billion. It fell by 2021 in dollar terms because of the exchange rate, though in rupees it later rose. By 2023 it was Rs. 27,420 billion; by 2024, Rs. 29,899 billion. The change is largely due to exchange rate depreciation, not real advancement.

¶ 07 Per capita income in USD was USD 4,372 in 2018. With COVID and the 2022 default, it fell by about USD 1,000 to USD 3,464 (2022), USD 3,801 (2023), and by 2024 to about USD 2,416 – below 2018 in USD terms. So how can you say people were in queues and destitution uniquely when you assumed office? The country had already reached a crisis point by 2020–2021. You got 43% in the Presidential Election; are you delivering on those people’s expectations? I will take issues one by one.

¶ 08 Local Government elections were held six months ago. Yet only yesterday the Seethawaka Pradeshiya Sabha’s administration was constituted. Why did it take six months? If Members walked out, but officials wanted to establish the council per the majority, it could have been done. Yesterday, the leader of the National People’s Power in that body, Dilan Jayawira, said “one of our members was taken for money.” Is this not corruption? How will such a council function?

¶ 09 In many local authorities, first budgets have been defeated. Why? Because chairs created through secret inducements cannot command open votes. When budgets come, votes are open and those who were secretly bought vote against them. Then officials cannot implement policies.

¶ 10 Hon. Minister, look at your district – Puttalam. In Anamaduwa, two Pradeshiya Sabhas are still not established. Why? Because the majority twice walked out demanding open voting. This happened in my area too – Mawathagama – where we had to go to court and only on the second attempt could we constitute the body. People did not vote for you to cling to power by improper means. In the Local Government Election, compared to the General Election, your vote reduced by over two million.

¶ 11 On Provincial Council elections: our Leader of the House said we postponed for seven years. We accept we erred during Yahapalana attempting to change the system, leading to problems. Even three of your current MPs supported that process then. The Attorney General has said it is possible to revert to the previous electoral system via a motion in this House. Do not create new committees and more confusion. Under the previous mixed reform, councillor numbers doubled from around 4,000 to 8,000 unintentionally. You should have corrected this before the LG polls; we in Opposition pledged support. Instead, you rushed under the old flawed arrangements and knowingly walked into error.

¶ 12 You feared that delaying elections would lose votes. But the point is: fix the system properly. We can revert to the old system for Provincial Councils before the PC election. The preferential vote system is not inherently bad; voters get to choose candidates, not only parties. Women’s representation and youth quotas can be ensured by constitutional or statutory provisions – for example, mandatory minimum percentages and gazetted appointments to meet thresholds.

¶ 13 Do not delay PC elections via delimitation again. That was how President Ranil Wickremesinghe delayed LG elections, claiming lack of funds. Now the President says for PCs there is money but “no method.” The AG has already given the road map: bring a proposal to revert to the former system and hold the election. The TNA’s Rasamanickam has already submitted a Private Member’s Bill – bring it as a Government Bill and we will fully support it. Seven to eight years without PCs is a grave injustice; officials make decisions without elected oversight, and Development is being decided administratively without people’s representation.

¶ 14 Regarding Budget implementation: you could not take last year’s Budget down to the village properly because the Provincial tier in the middle is missing; only Governors and officials remain. As a result, Chairs of LG bodies resort to inducing Members to pass budgets. This is a wrong path. We will support correcting the LG and PC electoral systems and holding elections promptly.

¶ 15 On public service pay: under Yahapalana we increased public servants’ salaries by 107% between 2015 and 2020. Pensions should also have been adjusted accordingly; the 2020 circular cancelled that, causing injustice and anomalies, which persist.

¶ 16 On vehicle permits for public officers: in the past, limited duty concessions existed to help professionals acquire vehicles. Today about 30,000 permits have been issued historically. Consider reintroducing a fair, targeted concession for essential cadres to stem brain drain, especially of doctors and engineers.

¶ 17 On the unfortunate Trincomalee incident at a place of worship: the conduct of the police officer was disgraceful. If no Minister is responsible, then at least interdict the officer and commence an inquiry. Such behavior at any religious site is unacceptable. Ensure equal justice.

¶ 18 Finally, Hon. Chairman, thank you for the time and to the Chief Opposition Whip for additional minutes. This Ministry oversees the entire local governance structure; with proper political direction, officials can deliver significantly, as we did under “Gamperaliya.” Please address unresolved issues of Development Officers, Grama Niladharis, service minute finalization, and retirees fairly.