The Hon. Anura Kumara Dissanayaka

¶ 01 Go to the villages and hold small meetings; speak to people; organize and raise awareness. Those are your rights. No one will be allowed to violate those rights. However, if anyone is preparing conspiracies or trying to create anarchy, we will not allow it. We seized a T-56 in Kiribathgoda and pursued the information, which led us to find a stock of hand grenades in Vavuniya—80 hand grenades in a tank—reportedly planned to be brought to Colombo. What is the intention here? Wherever conspiracies are planned—whether by underworld elements or defeated political groups—we will not permit them. Anyone who attempts to disrupt the path of reconciliation and rebuilding the country will not be allowed to do so. If laws are insufficient, we will make laws, because we must rebuild this country. Defeated politicians must not plunge the country into conspiracy to hide their thefts and crimes for fear of punishment. Governments are established to deal with such matters through proper mechanisms. Remember, governments have fallen to conspiracies before—2001 and 2018. In 2022, the President was elected by Parliament. I do not believe that was a conspiracy. Some may say so; I do not.

¶ 02 We are thoroughly investigating sporadic explosions linked to the underworld. Recently Maharagama had no such incidents, though there was one last night. We will not permit any official inside or outside the State, or any politician inside or outside Parliament, to conspire against the journey of rebuilding the country. Our democracy and media freedom are ample—speak, write, hold media briefings, organize, and build your political movements. We will not hinder that. But if anyone conspires against the State, we will take every possible step to defeat those conspiracies. I say this also because a sarcastic insinuation was made about His Eminence the Cardinal, suggesting he knew in advance about the Easter Sunday attack because he did not attend Mass that day. That is a conspiracy theory; such words carry responsibility.

¶ 03 Udaya Gammanpila has said that the Government had the Navy Commander arrested based on LTTE testimony. The Navy Commander was arrested pursuant to a court order. Do not distort facts. We recognize both the knock at the door and the beat of the drum; we know the difference. If anyone is planning conspiracies anywhere, we will not allow them. On the economy, you may do politics as you wish. We have placed the country on a good footing, and we will complete the task. Our only desire is to free our people from the disgrace and hardship we inherited. Our Cabinet, our Hon. Members of Parliament, and State officials are working. Let the Opposition also extend goodwill. What more needs to be done? If there is to be a change, Hon. Harsha de Silva, you will get a ministry; nothing beyond that will change. The priority is rebuilding the country. If anyone has good proposals, we are ready to consider them, but no one—