The Hon. (Dr.) (Ms.) Harini Amarasuriya

¶ 01 Thank you, Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees.

¶ 02 We are a democratic country that respects the rule of law. As a Government re-establishing the rule of law, we will not wield power as we please and throw people into the sea to kill them. But we can speak of the era of abductions and killings — Eknaligoda, Richard de Zoysa, Lasantha Wickrematunge, and the 17 students killed in Trincomalee. We have come after ending such an era. We formed this Government to clean up the era when power was used arbitrarily, ignoring the law and the Constitution. We have cleaned that up and come here.

¶ 03 Hon. Mano Ganesan asked what Clean Sri Lanka is. That political change itself, Hon. Member — that is it. Ending the era where Ministers and MPs behaved as they pleased, trampling the law and the Constitution — cleaning that up — is the core idea of Clean Sri Lanka. That is what we are doing, and it is happening. We understand your pain in not being able to bear it. But if you behave like this in this debate, in this House, you have no moral right to say further that you too stand for change, that you love this country, and want to work for it and agree with good things. I do not think you have that right. If you want to claim it, show it through your actions, at least through your conduct here in Parliament.

¶ 04 Thank you very much for the time, Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees.