The Hon. Dilith Jayaweera

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, had time remained, I would have spoken for 16-18 minutes. Nonetheless, thank you for facilitating my turn; I hope I now have 12 minutes.

¶ 02 First, to our friends in Government: this is a Parliament with many first-time MPs. I welcomed their arrival with optimism, given the presence of professors and doctors and the “clean-up” they promised. But in these 49 days, I must say candidly—many of my friends from university are here—that you sometimes speak like an Opposition. Please remember you are the Government.

¶ 03 This is not the Kelaniya University Students’ Council. What we say here affects 22 million people. People placed great expectations in you. You speak of a 76-year “curse,” but for 56 of those years your side was in power as well. We have agreed to advance a democratic path together, and the Opposition is cooperating. But you must now deliver on what you promised, or tell the truth that some promises were made on election platforms. We need a motivated nation, not ever-growing hopelessness. Please stop tinkering with three-wheeler “modifications” while leaving big promises undelivered. Start delivering; otherwise people lose faith in the system.

¶ 04 If you come forward and say frankly, “We said these things on election stages; we cannot do them all now,” that honesty itself would be the first tenet of Clean Sri Lanka and a new political culture. The people will respect such candour. Do not descend into petty mudslinging—about Antigen Test kits, about newspapers like “Aruna”, about “Derana,” or any outlet. I came here as an entrepreneur to add value, not to heckle in the canteen. You need a plan, not just slogans; stop killing people’s dreams—breathe life into them.

¶ 05 On Antigen Test kits: the Hon. Minister told this House they were sold at Rs. 1,146.22 each, but allegations were made of sales at Rs. 2,500 or Rs. 5,000. Please read the Hansard. There was also confusion between vaccines and test kits in previous exchanges. As for media, do not run “purity” campaigns selectively: if “Aruna” is linked to “Derana,” call it out consistently or apply equal standards to other outlets like The Morning or Pulse. Ownership alone does not make an outlet good or bad; standards do.

¶ 06 I will cut my speech short and continue at the next opportunity. I came from a working-class background; I worked my way up without handouts. Let us move beyond flat ideological dogmas we defeated back in campus days. Thank you.