The Hon. Roshan Akmeemana

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, as people gather with new hopes for a new year and we lay the foundation for a new society by sweeping away the old political order, we still see remnants of that old order haunting this Parliament. So I begin by responding to the Opposition’s criticisms of our first 100 days. Those who sat in the Yahapalana Cabinet and contributed to the largest financial fraud in our history—the Central Bank bond scam—now criticize our 100 days for not reducing prices. Within their first 60 days, they committed the worst financial fraud, costing EPF Rs. 10 billion and the market a Rs. 10 billion loss, shattering investor confidence. Those very people now speak about the people’s pain.

¶ 02 To them I say: you caused losses of nearly Rs. 20 billion; now you speak of the people?

¶ 03 An Opposition Member criticized current enforcement on auxiliary fittings on buses and three-wheelers. Let me clarify to the public: this is not a sudden rule of the new Government. It arises from Circular No. 6 of 2024 issued by the Commissioner of Motor Traffic last June. What is happening now is the Police implementing existing law. Still, we accept there are inconveniences. Therefore, our Government has instructed Police not to institute cases immediately and to grant a grace period for owners to comply. This is not our top priority, nor a hasty new law.

¶ 04 What are we building? Around the world, countries that achieved development had identifiable transformative periods—planned, visionary leadership steering the economy for 20–40 years: the U.S. under Alexander Hamilton’s framework, post–Civil War, and the New Deal; South Korea from the 1960s to 1980s with strong state direction; Vietnam’s Doi Moi; China since Deng Xiaoping; and Japan. Sri Lanka now needs such a transformative period. We believe this is that moment. We need a Sri Lankan dream: every sweat drop of the factory worker, every harvest of the farmer, every sacrifice of our soldiers, every sparkle in a student’s eyes—must serve that future vision.

¶ 05 There is no perfect global model today. Twentieth-century socialist experiments failed; the triumphalist claims that liberal capitalism is the “end of history” have also ended—Europe now veers far-right. We can learn from the U.S., China, Vietnam, Korea—but we cannot copy-paste. Unplanned liberalization wrecked our economy and domestic industry. We talk of rice shortages and prices, yet there has been no national plan for agriculture or farmer protection. Show us when the State last intervened meaningfully. Therefore, we will chart our own path—neither blind liberalization nor blanket protectionism—based on our current realities.