The Hon. Ramalingam Chandrasekar - Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I thank you and the people—Tamil, Sinhala, and Muslim—across Sri Lanka for this opportunity. This election changed the course of Sri Lankan history. We thank especially the people of the North and East.

¶ 02 As the NPP’s Jaffna District organizer during the campaign, I spoke with many who entrusted us with a new kind of victory. In the previous presidential election we were fourth in Jaffna, but we led the nation in increasing our vote share there, and I said then we would rise further at the next General Election. Today, the people of Jaffna have entrusted the entire district to the National People’s Power. Why? Because we demonstrated we are trustworthy.

¶ 03 During the campaign, major southern parties and some in the North unleashed slander: that under NPP, Tamils and Muslims would face discord, there would be riots, a return to queues, the Dollar at Rs. 400, and a dark era. Even some who posed as friends in the North warned people not to vote for us when they saw our momentum. The people ignored all that and chose us because we earned their trust.

¶ 04 Now, a new talking point is the 13th Amendment. We must remember what our Hon. President told the People’s Meeting at Veerasingam Hall in Jaffna: “We have not come here to promise 13A, federalism, or any other constitutional bargain. We will not play games with Tamil people anymore, nor with Muslim people. Our compact with the Tamil people is different: to end 76 years of entrenched ethnic chauvinism. Enough of racism.”

¶ 05 From 1947 onward—1953, 1956, 1963, 1970, 1977—racism scarred our history and oppressed Tamils and Muslims. After 1977, the UNP regime unleashed repression, brought draconian emergency and anti-terror laws under which Tamil youth are still held. We know who burned the Jaffna Public Library in 1981—destroying 94,000 books and the people’s faith in the ballot and in democratic avenues, pushing youth towards armed struggle. The July 1983 pogrom left an indelible black mark. For 76 years, racism has been our national curse. The people have now answered: they are not naive; they understand corruption, abuse of power, and the political games. They have embraced the National People’s Power across communities, and we, in turn, embrace all—Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim; UNP, TNA; regardless of label—to rebuild the country together.

¶ 06 We are the only party that presented a coherent national plan. The President set out our policy programme here last week. Those who ruined the country for 76 years, impoverished it, raised debt, and devastated culture—especially in the North—now sit in the Opposition and demand we solve everything in days. The debate today is because of those past wrongs. Let me address one pressing matter: the hill-country Tamil people have lived in this country over 200 years, yet many still live like bonded labourers. They trusted their union and political leaders, but today those efforts have come to little. In this election, the hill-country people—from Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Badulla, Kandy, Kegalle—put a full stop to that history. They showed they will no longer bow meekly. We have understood this message and are ready to begin a new era of struggle and solutions aligned to our policy.

¶ 07 Accordingly, our policy statement prioritizes the estate workers’ land rights, housing, wage progression, health, and education, with special care. We will deliver appropriate solutions.

¶ 08 On Tamil political prisoners and the disappeared: we feel that pain deeply; even the Hon. President’s own brother disappeared in 1988, and the family still prays for him. We therefore understand the suffering of families of the disappeared and will act with special care.

¶ 09 Thank you.