The Hon. S.M. Marikkar

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, the previous Minister said the Opposition has nothing to celebrate. Be that as it may, first let me thank the 1,767 members elected under the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) banner for their votes. Including independents, the entire Opposition holds 4,150 seats, while NPP holds 3,927. For seven months they attacked us while behaving like an opposition themselves; now the results are in. Their presidential tally of 5,740,179 rose to 6,863,186 at the General Election, but now has dropped to 4,503,930—about 2.3 million down in six months. Stop misleading the public.

¶ 02 We, as Opposition, will responsibly support the country on issues like the US tax exposure, EU GSP+, growth, revenue generation, and bringing investors. But the Government must stop peddling falsehoods. You did not get 2.3 million more votes.

¶ 03 In Badulla District alone, your vote fell by 100,000. In Colombo Municipal Council, millions are being offered to buy councillors. Where is that money coming from? We are told deals are happening, including discussions at Pelawatte about taking over Hambantota PS using Opposition councillors. Is this the “defeat the small thieves” slogan you preached? Now the “small thieves” who won are being bought.

¶ 04 You also refuse to table agreements with India, while travelling abroad and speaking differently at home. Stop the contradictions and be honest about challenges; we will help address them. There is no national election for three to four years—so end the campaign lies and govern with the truth. Thank you.