The Hon. (Mrs.) Samanmali Gunasingha

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, first, I thank the people of the Colombo District—Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher and Malay, including the Dehiwala–Mount Lavinia area—for electing a majority from the National People’s Power in Colombo. The people have sent a new political message to the whole country, and through this new Parliament, we believe they will send another.

¶ 02 Politicians here used women only to come out on election day and wave flags; otherwise, they were not valued. The NPP has changed that culture—organizing, building women politically, and recognizing their social roles and value. Historically, this is why more women MPs from the NPP now represent this Tenth Parliament. I pay homage to the progressive public, our comrades, and especially the women who decided to change this country.

¶ 03 Some ask whether we will go down the same path as those before. No. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake presented a distinctly different Policy Statement. Does it say to run institutions into losses, break them, destroy them, and then sell them? No. Does it say to import everything rather than build domestic production of goods and services? No. Does it say to borrow as much as possible and burden the people with that debt? No. Does it say to misuse borrowed money for personal whims rather than national development and then load the burden on the people? No. Instead, we will build a production economy.

¶ 04 Everyone here boasts that the CEB and the Petroleum Corporation have made profits. Why not speak about how much these institutions had lost? Who made SriLankan Airlines a loss-making entity—lavish charters, personal use, misuse? Now the Government is intervening to make such entities truly public assets and to revive them. We are not going back to the old economic policy. Our Policy Statement clearly says we will move to a production economy; selling is not an economic policy. The Opposition seems to know only sell-offs and destructive economic policies. I hope wisdom will prevail to see the effort we are taking.

¶ 05 You remember the decision to sell MILCO and to allocate 25,000 acres of state land to Milco Farms. Our policy now is to turn such institutions into profit-making ones, not to sell. Likewise, about national resources: in Nuwara Eliya, what was done to the Post Office? Using power to coerce officials to take decisions for personal desires. Today, valuable national assets are being brought back to the State to protect and return value to the people.

¶ 06 On production: some say they do not understand our people’s economy—this democratic economic model. The President temporarily allocated 11,000 acres of land at Kantale Sugar Factory to farmers for short-term crops. Previously, who got those lands, for what purpose and how were they used? Our policy is to release land for production to farmers—not to politicians’ cronies—for short-term crops.

¶ 07 Next is the people’s participatory economy. The President clearly said we will create a participatory economy—engaging the people in production and sharing the benefits justly. Taxes were levied in the past, but not reinvested for the people; neither did people share in production or benefits. Our policy is a participatory economy where benefits are fairly distributed.

¶ 08 In Colombo District—Dehiwala–Mount Lavinia—there are beautiful buildings and lights, but both rural and urban poverty are stark. Our economic programme must eliminate both rural and urban poverty and make Colombo and other cities truly livable for all, not just a segment.

¶ 09 Women suffer most in this economy. Data show female-headed households have risen: around 23 percent in 2009–2010, about 23.6 percent in 2012–2013, and up to 29 percent by 2018—one in four families. On these women falls responsibility for children’s education, care for children with disabilities, and for elderly parents. We have planned relief—Rs. 6,000 for children in families unable to afford educational materials. Historically, female-headed households inherited only poverty and stigma. We will strengthen their household economies, provide credit schemes for self-employment and economic empowerment, and ensure safety for their families. This is the people’s Policy Statement, a people’s economic programme—not the bankrupt model that ruined the country. For rebuilding the nation and winning these policies, we seek the cooperation of all, especially the Opposition.

¶ 10 Thank you.