Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Further, regarding the Online Safety Act, we have appointed a Committee with Solicitor General Viraj Dayaratne as the Chairman. Then, the Committee on the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act is meeting for the first time next week. I have sent letters to the Committee and brought them back. There is already a draft, but there will be a consultation process. This Government will never bring in a law to harm any section of the community. So, we will have a consultation processes. Already, we have met a lot of parties; I did, personally. So, we are working on that. By next year, the MMDA will also be finalized. That is why I asked you to change your narrative since there would not be much for you to talk about, if this is the line you try to be in.

¶ 02 Then, what about the Independent Public Prosecutor? Long before the IMF put it in their Programme and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights came here, we had already appointed a Committee with His Lordship Justice Kodagoda as the Chairman to look into the establishment of an Independent Public Prosecutor’s Office because that was in our Manifesto. We are a party that delivers on the promises in our Manifesto. That process has already started and we are working on those, but a little bit of speeding up is necessary. But, no one can say that we are not going in the right direction, because we are.

¶ 03 Also, I must tell you that we acknowledge the concerns raised by the UNHRC Report. Unlike the previous Governments, the NPP does not deny or dismiss them. We treat that as a call to strengthen democracy, justice and reconciliation. We did not create this mess, the previous Governments did. But, we are surely going to solve it. We will face the truth with courage; we will not run and hide.

¶ 04 Sir, I explained about the Independent Public Prosecutor. Not only that, we talk about the South also. The Batalanda Commission Report is now with the Hon. Attorney-General for him to contemplate and study on possible criminal charges; it is being worked on. Has any of these things, what we are doing now, happened before, during previous Governments? No.

¶ 05 As regards the rule of law, we said that we will establish the rule of law. Nobody is above the law. I was not going to comment on that because it is not part of the topic today. But, one Hon. Member of Parliament — I will not mention his name, but he is a senior lawyer — made a remark when Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested to the effect that the Government should not have done that or should have made an exception because he was a former President. Sir, the Goddess of Justice is wearing a blindfold. She wears a blindfold because she does not look at the social status, the educational qualifications, the pedigree or his school when sentencing a person. That is why we say justice is blind; justice only sees justice. The Goddess of Justice does not play any games by covering her eyes. So, I am a little surprised that that particular Member mentioned that. So, neither the Ministry of Justice and National Integration, the Ministry of Public Security nor this Government instigated any of these actions against the former President. Just like for any other normal person, investigations went on and the law is taking its course. We do not interfere with the Judiciary; we do not interfere with internal investigations. We have made the Judiciary, the Police and the investigating authorities truly independent. Is that wrong? Should we make an exception based on the social status of the accused? I doubt it very much. And, I will leave it at that. I would have spoken more, if that Hon. Member who made the remarks was here, but he is not.

¶ 06 Further, I am not saying that everything is rosy; I am not saying that our Government is perfect. We would make a mistake or two. Talk to us sincerely and openly, and we will correct ourselves. The Government is new, our attitude is new, but when it comes to the defence establishment and the police establishment, they are still old. So, there will be isolated incidents. Do not try to portray it as Government’s policy or as the Government is sponsoring it. There was an unfortunate incident where a Tamil died and a hartal was held. Even before the hartal, those responsible army officers were arrested and remanded, and prosecution and action against them are taking place. So, what was the purpose of the hartal? Well, it was not a success, in the first place. The reason was, the people in the North know that we are not racist. So, that is not going to work. If we do unlawful arrests, let us know and we will work on it.

¶ 07 Then, is there any other government which has released at least 500 acres or more land to the people of the North and the East? We have opened up roads. Did they do it before? Why can any of you not say, “Yes, NPP, we applaud you for the good things done, but let us do more.” That, we would like to hear; that, we are asking for. So, we invite you to work with us to serve the people in the North, the East and the South.