The Hon. D.V. Chanaka

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, the previous speaker seemed to argue that because wrongs happened in 2016, present wrongs are acceptable. On the CPI, they once called Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Government the most corrupt; yet then Sri Lanka ranked 82. Now it is 107—25 places worse—so by their own metric, things are worse.

¶ 02 I repeatedly invited the Minister for a public debate; he did not come. Former Minister Kanchana Wijesekera and then State Minister Indika Anuruddha are no longer in Parliament; Hon. Kanchana is even out of politics but invited the current Minister or his Deputy to a public debate on these tenders. Do not hide behind parliamentary privilege.

¶ 03 I alleged this tender was corrupt back in July when it was being delayed to create conditions for graft; I said so again in August and September in this House. The Chairman of Lanka Coal Company then resigned. I have his resignation letter. He says he is not a politician, was first involved with the NPP and thus appointed—so it was a political appointment. He further says that despite his intent to save the country and the company from corruption, all decisions were being taken by Mr. Udayanga Hemapala and his team, and that neither he nor the Board would be responsible for the corruption arising from this tender. He resigned on the 17th; the tender was on the 18th. The President, he says, privately urged him not to resign and to sign the tender, then…