Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam
Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam objected to the limited speaking time given to the remaining Opposition Members after the main Opposition’s walkout, noting that only six Opposition MPs were present, including ITAK members. He argued that issues such as Army control of the Gurukulamadam ground were directly relevant to the debate because they affected sports development in the North and East. He urged the Chair to allow Tamil party representatives adequate time to raise concerns affecting their communities, including difficulties in forming local council administrations.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Thank you, Sir. Knowing there is no other Opposition speaker, if you still think we should not speak, then perhaps the main Opposition’s walkout was right. It is 11.50 a.m.; this debate runs till 5.00 p.m. Only six Opposition Members remain—Hon. Selvam Adaikalanathan and five of us from ITAK.
¶ 02 Even so, you say my issues are unrelated. Then let me be explicit: when the Army controls the Gurukulamadam ground, we cannot develop sport—that is directly related to today’s topic. Yet you say I have only two minutes. Others left due to your conduct. As the main Tamil party, at least allow us adequate time to raise our people’s issues.
¶ 03 You may have disputes with the main Opposition—about secret ballots in the Colombo Municipal Council, for example. But in our North and East, even at local level, we struggle to form councils; neither ITAK nor TNA nor the party of Hon. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam could form administrations in some places. Please listen to us today and give us time.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Tuesday, 17 June 2025 ·No. 1750929357043199 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 17 June 2025. No. 1750929357043199. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/14703