The Hon. Nalinda Jayatissa - Minister of Health and Mass Media and Chief Government Whip

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, we will ensure justice for those affiliated with the JVP who were killed by that regime while acting patriotically. Those who allied with the killers and made those families Presidents cannot cry crocodile tears. We understand the pain and anger; let us move on.

¶ 02 On the Ministry of Public Security: a Member from the Rajapaksa family said some Easter-related incidents are interconnected — from the 2017 Aluthgama/Aliyar Junction clash up to the April 17, 2019 bike bomb at Sainthamaruthu — yes, there are interlinks. Investigating the Easter attacks means knitting these threads. Similarly, our police, intelligence, and CID are now tracing interlinks among recent so-called underworld murders — from the Mideniya family murders to incidents in Aluthkade, Kotahena, and Negombo — such as those who took private protection from “Amare of Julampitiya” and could even negotiate his release from Tangalle Prison. It is a core police task to find these linkages for national security; therefore I will not elaborate further.

¶ 03 There was also debate yesterday and today about expenses for overseas travel of Presidents from the Presidential Secretariat allocation. Here are the figures for their terms: Mahinda Rajapaksa (five years): Rs. 3,572 million; Maithripala Sirisena (four years): Rs. 3,848 million; Gotabaya Rajapaksa (two years): Rs. 126 million; Ranil Wickremesinghe (two years): Rs. 538 million; Anura Dissanayake (five months): Rs. 1.8 million.

¶ 04 Heads of State undertake state visits, duty visits, invited visits, and private visits. Some cannot comprehend how our President spent only Rs. 1.8 million over five months; yet they readily accept Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Rs. 3,572 million. The proper questions are: how was so much spent, how many tickets were bought, which hotels, were any tickets provided free by host states, and could it have been cheaper? Note: these are only Presidential Secretariat expenses; accompanying ministries also spent separately — we can detail those later.

¶ 05 Some cannot tell the difference between a quotation and a voucher, or what an AI-generated video is. They even ask if the President went on the footboard. For those who do not understand, let me list our actual costs:

¶ 06 First visit, 15–17 December 2024, India — a state visit. Air tickets cost Rs. 312,350; total Presidential Secretariat spend including protocol and gifts was Rs. 1,220,000.

¶ 07 Second visit, 12–17 January 2025, China — no ticket cost to us; tickets were provided by China. Total Secretariat spend was about Rs. 386,000.

¶ 08 Third visit, 10–13 February 2025, Dubai — air tickets were provided; Secretariat spend was about Rs. 279,971.

¶ 09 Thank you.