The Hon. J.C. Alawathuwala
Hon. J.C. Alawathuwala cited World Bank data indicating that poverty had increased further from 24.986 per cent in 2024 and argued that poverty reduction must be a priority for national prosperity. He said the Government, having expanded from three MPs in 2022 to a large parliamentary mandate, should use that mandate to deliver livelihood programmes alongside anti-corruption efforts. He also referred to recent cooperative election results as an indication of changing public sentiment and urged the Government to focus on meeting the expectations of voters.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Please allow me a brief moment, Hon. Presiding Member.
¶ 02 The World Bank reports poverty rose by another 10% beyond 24.986% in 2024. If we are to make this a prosperous country, poverty must fall, not rise. In 2022, when the country went bankrupt, you had only three MPs; now you have 159. You must work for the people who gave you that mandate. We support catching thieves and fighting corruption, but you must also launch programs that help people live. Cooperative elections in 2022–2023 were won by you; but now SJB is leading in cooperative polls. That is people’s response. Please focus on why you received this mandate, deliver on those expectations, and take the country forward. Thank you.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 8 October 2025 ·No. 22594 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. J.C. Alawathuwala. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 October 2025. No. 22594. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/18876