The Hon. Rohana Bandara

¶ 01 Take it to court; then we will come. Using your name, some commit fraud. You say import rice, but someone else does the importing. We are saying you give approval, but others misuse your name to steal. Do not twist it.

¶ 02 Now, you said there were no political appointments for Ambassadors. As I understand, you said no defeated candidate was appointed as an Ambassador. But is not the person sent to Cuba a candidate who contested from Colombo District and lost? How can you deny it? He has been appointed. Do not tell blatant lies. Even Hon. Sarath said somewhere that you did not get power for what you did, but because of the mistakes of those who were there before; the people gave you power to cleanse hatred, and apart from courage you had no other qualification. So, hatred and lies got power. Week after week you release some list to highlight bravery. A country cannot be run by hatred or lies. Face the truth. Let us together remedy your failures. If you fail, you will be defeated as a Government and go home. It is already evident. When Provincial Council Elections come, you will be further defeated. We as citizens will suffer at queues; we as a country will go bankrupt. You cannot build a country with bluster, lies, or hatred. Stop the bravado and lies; face reality. You cannot suddenly at the last moment stop this. We say this with goodwill.

¶ 03 As MPs, we are accountable to our districts and to the country’s consumers. The Opposition has a duty. We do not have allocations like the Government. We cannot perform Government duties. Our duty is to point out shortcomings. If you see that as wrong, you cannot succeed as a Government. When opportunity comes, you squander it and blame past Governments. Those who blocked the country by protests then—what do they say now?