The Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, perhaps the Hon. Deputy Speaker did not know lunch timings. I saw the Hon. Speaker say there are rats in the parliamentary kitchen; but I went and ate anyway. Whether that issue is resolved, I do not know. I ate. I heard that 94 NPP MPs had breakfast today; I consider that a discourtesy to the kitchen staff. Hon. Minister Samantha Viddyarathna, please look into it.

¶ 02 On the Bill before us, I spoke earlier. I also wish to raise another matter. By 21 September this government completes one year. The MPs who represent this government first called themselves “National People’s Power,” then some called it “National Lie Power” for their falsehoods, and now “National Wealth Power” — as I saw on social media this morning — given the declared assets and liabilities, the displayed properties, and what they say in media interviews. This has become a serious issue for the people.

¶ 03 Asset and liability declarations began during the 2015 good governance government. Our party’s present General Secretary, former MP Hon. Sumanthiran, and SJB’s Hon. Eran Wickramaratne handed their declarations to Transparency International Sri Lanka for online publication, committing to put them in the public domain. After I was elected in 2020, I consented to TISL to publish mine. Therefore, I must comment on this government’s conduct.

¶ 04 The Minister of Public Security should be here. There is a police entry at Nilaveli Police against Deputy Minister Arun Hemachandra of Trincomalee District for using highly inappropriate language and making threats to a Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman. I table the acknowledgement of the complaint.

¶ 05 Hon. Minister, please take up the complaint and instruct the Police to investigate immediately. Additionally, there is a complaint at Sandiweli Police in Batticaloa against an NPP organizer; a month has passed, and the organizer says the DIG won’t summon him because he is an NPP organizer. We did politics with Pillayan too. This government’s people are threatening others. There is also an entry at Chenkalady that an NPP organizer threatened someone at a library. This is how the NPP government is proceeding.

¶ 06 Remember: before 21 September last year, the visible faces were Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Harini Amarasuriya, and Vijitha Herath — because only those three were in Parliament. Now we see faces trying to govern via the National List without a people’s mandate; if those faces were known before 21 September, even the President might not be here and you might not be in Parliament. Remember your mandate. Those who came via National Lists and once called Ranil Wickremesinghe illegitimate now run the country. Some NPP MPs say: “We were elected by the people but are not sent to dialogues, not given speaking time or committee memberships, while a few get preference.” That is your internal problem; the people will judge.

¶ 07 On the economy, based on World Bank and Central Bank data compiled by Verité Research, from 1990 to 2024, the highest unemployment rate is in 2024. The share of working-age Sri Lankans without employment in 2024 is 46.3 per cent — the lowest employment since 1990. Place this in the Library.

¶ 08 Hon. Presiding Member, I began at 1.00 p.m. and was given 15 minutes. It is now 1.14 p.m.; you took the Chair thereafter. I have about a minute remaining; my time should end at 1.15 p.m.

¶ 09 The real incomes are still below the level of 2018. According to the wage index, since 2018 the public sector and informal private sector Real Wage Rate Index is 78.78 — meaning where it was 100, it has fallen to 78.78. That is from Verité Research.

¶ 10 Further, poverty has risen from 13.1 per cent in 2018 to 24.5 per cent now; it may reduce to about 21.2 per cent by 2027. I say this because regardless of the rhetoric of some ministers and MPs, we must see how much money people at ground level actually have to spend.

¶ 11 I conclude. People’s capacity to spend has declined. These are data from the World Bank and Central Bank, not my conjecture. With reduced employment and reduced disposable income, people cannot make ends meet. I end my speech.