The Hon. Eranga Gunasekara - Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs

¶ 01 With your permission, Hon. Presiding Member. I wish to state our position regarding the Adjournment Motion moved by Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam. Whatever he says, I believe he too understands what the political usage of bar permits has been. As the National People's Power government, we know what the bar-political culture is.

¶ 02 Hon. Member, as you pointed out, the situation that existed in our country was not a division among Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim MPs. Rather, within our political culture, the next expectation of many MPs was to obtain a bar permit. That permit then became an element of their next election project. However, Hon. Member, you will acknowledge that we are changing that political culture.

¶ 03 As you and the mover of the motion highlighted, one of the first things we did as this democratic government upon coming to office was to halt the issuing of bar permits without inquiry, without understanding their economic value, and without considering tourism policy. We also recognize the lawful right of adults to consume alcohol.