The Hon. R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara
R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara urged the Government not to revive communal tensions and criticized its use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act despite previously opposing it, citing court rulings and the need to protect freedom of speech and rights. He asked that people in the North and East be allowed to commemorate their dead, and called for the CEB’s reported profits to be passed on to consumers through the promised 30 percent electricity tariff reduction. He also said the Government had changed its position on past issues but had not apologized for the damage caused.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Please grant me three more minutes, Hon. Deputy Speaker.
¶ 02 Do not reignite communalism. I recall you opposed the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Shamefully, within a month of your Government taking office, you used it to file cases. The Courts gave a clear ruling. People must have freedom of speech and rights. We are not communalists. Many of us died protecting everyone’s rights. We ask you to allow the people of the North and East to commemorate their dead. I do not think it was properly allowed this time—please allow it.
¶ 03 You said electricity tariffs would be reduced by 30 percent. The CEB is now making significant profits—billions of rupees. Please pass that benefit to the people. There is more to say, but I will stop here. We say this not with hatred or anger. I am happy you now realize your past errors, though they caused great damage. One shortcoming in Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s speech was that he did not apologize to the people for what was done; he merely changed track.
¶ 04 Thank you.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Wednesday, 4 December 2024 ·No. 1733893521018713 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. R.M. Ranjith Madduma Bandara. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 4 December 2024. No. 1733893521018713. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/25615