The Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, at the outset I inform that we will call for a vote against this extension of emergency. Today, emergency powers are being used for political purposes rather than genuine emergencies enabling proper State mechanisms.

¶ 02 On 26 May, two boats from Karkovalam and Munai (Point Pedro DS Division) went to sea around 11.00 p.m. and did not return on the 27th. By noon on the 27th, the DS informed Government agencies: the Disaster Management Centre, the Navy, and relevant Ministries. Nothing moved. I went there and repeatedly called the Fisheries Minister—no response, not even a follow-up call later.

¶ 03 When we informed the Navy around noon on the 27th, they said the sea was too rough and they would not go. The Air Force said weather conditions did not allow helicopters. Then why are naval lands being held—illegally acquired coastal strips one kilometer inland from the shore in the North and East, our people’s lands—if in an emergency they cannot even search for missing fishermen? For whom is this emergency then?

¶ 04 To us, emergency is a weapon for the Government’s self-preservation and to target opponents, especially as it has failed to implement its promises to the Tamil people in the North and East. It is being used to subdue and silence those regions.

¶ 05 You cannot use emergency or the PTA to arrest Sangeethsan for the opinion expressed in a song. Admiring Prabhakaran or praising the LTTE is not terrorism; it is an opinion. You cannot bring opinion expression under the PTA or emergency. If you say otherwise, you reveal ignorance of those laws.

¶ 06 If someone expresses an opinion in a context that imminently incites danger, then perhaps you may consider legal tools. But in a normal non-war situation, merely praising a leader or movement cannot be hauled under the PTA. Those who once said they would remove the PTA and need no replacement law now cannot even promise not to enforce the PTA until repeal. This is a spineless Government.

¶ 07 You may suppress expression, but even 17 years after the war, if you ask Tamils in the North and East, many will still want that organization back; your own Fisheries Minister attended Thileepan’s commemoration. These are your political failures. Trying to bury them using the PTA or emergency to suppress opinions is a daydream.