Hon. Arjuna Sujeewa Senasinghe, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member.

¶ 02 Many spoke on energy today. The first said lying is wrong. I agree. Lying is a great sin; slander is worse; knowingly lying is worse still. Another Hon. Member asked what “we” are. Another said big lies were told. I checked their election speeches—many lies. If you can, show where in my 20 years in politics I lied. We speak truths carved in stone.

¶ 03 The previous Member painted a nice picture: so many MWs, so much storage. Fine. He asked what we did—did we “tap coconuts”? Let me begin with a reminder.

¶ 04 If Sri Lanka still has development enabling our lives today, a big credit goes to the accelerated Mahaweli project of the 1980s. Power was paid at Rs. 3.50 per unit then. Credit goes to Gamini Dissanayake and J.R. Jayewardene. Why this ingratitude from the JVP/NPP? I call good, good. I have many criticisms of Mahinda Rajapaksa, but he contributed to ending the war; I won’t deny it. I also have many criticisms of Ranil Wickremesinghe, but he stabilized a fallen economy so you could work like this; can we deny that? Denying it is ingratitude. The JVP fought corruption with us then.

¶ 05 Interjection: “Yahapalana period.”

¶ 06 Yes, during Yahapalana. We accept and appreciate that. But why can’t you acknowledge good done by others? The Mahaweli projects deliver over 1,750 MW. How much industry has that powered? Cost at Rs. 3.50 per unit. A big share of today’s power still comes from that. At least acknowledge it.

¶ 07 Interjection: “They had power plants too.”

¶ 08 I will not go into negative politics; it hurts hearts on both sides.

¶ 09 Now, about recent lies. They said USD 500, USD millions coming from various “friends.” We waited; nothing. Another said they’ll make graphene from graphite; but even that has not begun. Many promises, including reducing electricity bills.

¶ 10 On the “monkey” story, I will not dwell. But when making such statements, think more. We, when in ministries, did not speak irresponsibly. This caused confusion: one minister said one thing, another something else. Whether it was a monkey, cat or whatever is irrelevant; explain clearly what happened. The issue is lack of responsibility and experience in handling ministries.

¶ 11 On the IMF: we are consistent. Hon. Sajith Premadasa said we will renegotiate and amend the programme; we told Peter Breuer the same. We will not accept harmful conditions as you claim. Our policy is the same—open economy like JR, Gamini, Premadasa. Governments are involved everywhere to varying degrees. Ultimately you also adopted our approach.

¶ 12 On corruption: my comrade Bimal Ratnayake fought corruption robustly with us. Now I ask about the 50 MW wind award to Hayleys. The Technical Evaluation Committee rejected it; on appeal, again rejected. After government changed, there was a case; it was withdrawn, and then the previously rejected bidder was awarded. How? If hundreds of dollars cheaper, then call a new tender and award to the lowest technically qualified bidder. There seems to be a connection: Dhammika Perera has good ties with your party and the President. Even so, wrong is wrong whoever does it. Go to court; if the TEC was wrong, prove it. That hasn’t happened. This is serious.

¶ 13 Also, 300 containers were released without proper checks—what was inside? Where is the list? We always ask for lists; none is tabled. Do not target critics using CID or Police like in dictatorships.

¶ 14 Interjection: “Mahinda did the same.”

¶ 15 I was never spared by Mahinda either. Basil tried to jail me once; Gotabaya too. We went to the Supreme Court; we both were scolded there. Dayasiri got scared. We stood firm. We were blocked from speaking on the Shirani Bandaranayake case. But we do not target only opponents while holding hands with the corrupt.

¶ 16 This Government is five months old. Be fair; investigate these matters. Do not harass critics. I can prophesy who will go to jail in two years; enforce the law properly.

¶ 17 The President keeps saying “they are trying to topple the Government”; why such suspicion? We are not trying to topple it. Stop making that allegation.

¶ 18 Some keep talking about things 70 years ago; even “Joolampitiye Amare.” In 2003 there were allegations of links with him; yet in 2005 you backed that camp. We didn’t.

¶ 19 Hon. Presiding Member, how much time remains?

¶ 20 Two more minutes.

¶ 21 I thought I had more time.

¶ 22 Fourteen minutes.

¶ 23 Let me quickly address Adani. The loss to the country by losing Adani is huge. For IPP prices: IPP Thermal Oil around Rs. 93; IPP Solar + Battery (Poonakary Tank) around Rs. 46; IPP Wind (Mannar) around Rs. 33; CEB wind (Mannar) around Rs. 30; CEB small hydro around Rs. 29; CEB Norochcholai (coal) around Rs. 26; Adani Wind (Mannar & Pooneryn) around Rs. 24. That is a good price, from a globally accepted entity. A 1,000 MW tender can take 2–3 years to award and start. Adani would also build the line. We could have exported to India.

¶ 24 Internationally, there is a perception this is a Marxist Government; will the economy open? Bringing Adani would have sent the right signal. Starting at 500 MW, moving to 1,500 MW—our need is about 4,500 MW, now around 4,000 MW. Build 10,000 MW and export 6,000 MW. But it costs USD 20–30 billion. The allotted time is over.

¶ 25 Please give me one more minute.

¶ 26 By losing Adani, we lost a big future opportunity. I do not know Adani personally. But the name carries weight. If we started, we could export to India. With 500 MW then 2,000 MW in two years, you could have boosted exports by USD 5 billion. Now you cannot.

¶ 27 We say this out of concern. If exports do not rise by at least USD 5 billion in two years, you will face a big danger. While Ranil Wickremesinghe stabilized the economy, your plans seem unlikely to materialize. Then in a year this country may face big problems.

¶ 28 Thank you.