The Hon. Hesha Withanage Ankumbura Arachchi

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member.

¶ 02 On this day we honor our war heroes. My colleague Hon. Thilina Samarakoon, himself a former soldier and now a Government MP, made remarks about them—thank you. If he can respectfully say “war hero,” why can’t our President? We saw in recent times that “war hero” became just “soldier.” We live free because of them; denying them that honor is this country’s misfortune.

¶ 03 On the Bill, many Members have talked of raising revenue and strengthening institutions. I wish to highlight one issue. For decades, and even now, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) leads the general insurance market. Last week, in the Sunday Observer, the SLIC Chairman said the institution is being readied for listing on the stock market. Why sudden moves for a profitable entity that has not been a burden on the State?

¶ 04 We examined the conduct of this Chairman. He has arbitrarily removed seven key officials without reason: Mr. Rohitha Amarapala (DGM HR and Administration; former CIPM President), Mr. Thilina Hiripitiya (DGM HR), Mr. Malaka Bandara (CFO), Mr. Shrilal Rathnayake (DGM Internal Audit), Mr. Lalith de Silva (DGM Distribution), Mr. Rohana Kumara (Regional Manager), and Mr. Indunil Navarathna (Senior Manager, AR). I table their names and reasons. Subsequently, six more officials have been removed. This is unprecedented political interference. The Chairman’s trade union dislikes them, we are told. Is the State run by a union or by the Executive?

¶ 05 Who is this Chairman? He is a person who has not run even a small tea shop. He is a political henchman—Nusith Kumaratunga—who contested from Thalawathugoda to the Maharagama Municipal Council from Madiyama. I have his campaign poster. The present Government pledged not to appoint political henchmen to top positions, but now such henchmen occupy principal seats, removing those who served 25-30 years and know the job. We hear he orders recruitment of a seat organizer’s daughter in Beliatta. There are proper procedures for State recruitment; ignorance of such procedures harms the public sector.

¶ 06 We ask the Government to remove political appointees from key State posts as per the law. If entities burden the State, close them—we are not opposed. But SLIC is not a burden. Yet its Chairman talks of listing SLIC. Is the Government aligned with that? Why push a non-burdening, profitable entity in this direction? We want answers.