The Hon. Nishantha Perera

¶ 01 Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees, as we debate the Order under the Stamp Duty (Special Provisions) Act and two Regulations under the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, I must emphasize a few points. The Opposition focused more on declaring that industries are shutting down and the country is regressing, forgetting how the country was handed to the NPP—bankrupt, dragged to the street, with the entire world told Sri Lanka was insolvent. We inherited a country without dollars and without rupees; the President and this government prioritized stabilizing both. Now things are moving forward; that’s why they are agitated. The people too are providing strength, as confirmed by the recent local elections. Before that, the NPP had no control of any local authority; power lay with SLPP, SJB, and UNP. Colombo MC was under the “green” for 75 years; now, after 75 years, the people turned Colombo red. We also won Galle MC, which had been green.

¶ 02 They allege “deals.” I challenge SLPP and SJB leaders in Galle to publicly disclose any such deal. As elected representatives at local level, we know many members are independent-minded. When chairs turned local bodies into personal fiefdoms, upright members were defeated; now such honest members are joining with the NPP.

¶ 03 They say industries are collapsing. Do they forget their games? They closed fertilizer plants and turned them into torture chambers, and now cry about closures. In Ginthota, the rope (coir) factory was a source of pride and foreign exchange; it was closed and assets sold. Today, conscientious local representatives who love the country stand with us to save such institutions, not with those who ran them down.

¶ 04 On tax concessions: they increased many fees—for example, from Rs. 10 to Rs. 20—while shielding cronies. When recovering billions in tax arrears from Johnston and Arjun Aloysius under NPP stewardship, we succeeded. In Europe, people and industries pay taxes; but after witnessing your overseas antics, will our people pay? Our dollar shortage was worsened by incidents like the Russian tourist couple case in Hambantota, where lawlessness scared off visitors. Investors faced ministers demanding personal cuts; even a Japanese ambassador spoke publicly about such behavior. Under us, reserves rose to USD 6.5 billion—built on restoring trust by the President.

¶ 05 Thank you.