The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara

¶ 01 [10.06 a.m.]

¶ 02 Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity. First, I congratulate you—having long served trade unions—for assuming the Chair today.

¶ 03 I extend my gratitude to the voters of Kurunegala District—particularly Panduwasnuwara, Bingiriya and elsewhere—who gave me 51,402 votes through the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). We joined the SJB because of its clear, centrist policy—neither extreme right nor extreme left—articulated by Hon. Sajith Premadasa. As SLFP General Secretary, I entered that alliance fully accepting its responsibilities.

¶ 04 I congratulate President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with whom we long worked in Opposition, as well as the Hon. Prime Minister, the Government Chief Organizer, the Leader of the House, Hon. Nihal Galappaththi, and Hon. Vasantha Samarasinghe and Hon. Namal Karunaratne on their appointments. You have shown that with discipline, dedication and clear targets, three MPs can help turn a country around.

¶ 05 Our traditional parties are in ruins because they pursued outdated ideologies, private agendas, consolidation of family and crony power, and kept new leaders out. Today, the SLFP and UNP have virtually collapsed; so have others that failed to allow leadership renewal. The people realized that sterile politics without new leaders must be rejected. Many new Members are here; they may be new to governing, though not to politics—governing is different.

¶ 06 How did this new force rise? Since 2014, after the 2009 war victory, we told Mahinda Rajapaksa he had two paths: Nelson Mandela’s or Idi Amin’s. Had he taken the former, we would not be here today. From 2014, a large public current opposed racism, religious extremism, and corruption. In 2015, the Sirisena–Wickremesinghe Government was told to clean up, but failed; their infighting pushed 6.9 million votes to Gotabaya Rajapaksa. There was great hope then—even Buddhist clergy urged him to be a “Hitler” to fix the country. Within months, arrogance, hubris and folly prevailed; disregard for allies and betrayal of public hopes brought back corrupt, crony politics, paving the way for today’s NPP rise. You built this Government with a disciplined, patient organization uniting women, youth, intellectuals, workers, migrant workers, and artists. With this great mandate comes great responsibility—remember, pendulums swing both ways; avoid arrogance.

¶ 07 If you implement your mandate correctly, we in the Opposition are ready to support where appropriate. Politics can place brothers on different sides; that is fine—we respect that freedom.

¶ 08 But recognize something: a narrative was built to demean this entire system—portraying all 225 MPs as thieves, and even those in national attire as fraudsters. Catch the real thieves and enforce the law on them. But do not smear honest people dedicated to building this country.

¶ 09 Also note: today’s Parliament largely comprises the same 225 seats filled by different individuals; you said you would cut presidential pay and perks, abolish MPs’ official residences, close the canteen, bring food from home, give up vehicles, turn official residences into hotels, stop pensions, and never bring family into politics. Yet today both Hon. Bimal Rathnayake and his spouse are in the same Parliament; likewise Hon. Nihal Abeysinghe and Hon. Chathuranga Abeysinghe—father and son—sit here. I have no objection, but note the contrast with earlier claims.

¶ 10 Moreover, under Article 36(2) of the Constitution, you cannot retroactively remove benefits already due to former Presidents; laws cannot operate retrospectively to divest vested entitlements.

¶ 11 Please also address “crony politics.” Those who campaigned with you in universities now hold key secretariats; financiers who pumped money are engaged in crony dealings in this Government. You said funds would come from Uganda; later that claim was walked back as “figurative.” You spoke of a new Debt Sustainability Analysis; now you appear aligned to the IMF framework.