The Hon. (Dr.) (Ms.) Kaushalya Ariyarathne

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, thank you for a brief time. I must clarify a point from my earlier speech. Hon. Harsha de Silva said he would read the verbatim report of the Committee; he did not. Let me read one minute from the Public Finance Committee Report of 07 January 2025, page 8: “The Chair stressed the urgency of addressing the Singapore FTA explaining its delay due to previous Government’s decisions and negotiations to restart it. The Hon. (Dr.) Harshana Suriyapperuma suggested a final review before deciding rather than immediate approval. Hon. Chathuranga Abeysinghe was of the view that FTA should be reviewed further and inquired if stakeholders have been consulted in drafting and ratifying this Agreement. He further stated that, another point is that these decisions were made by the previous Cabinet and the new Government has sought the views of industrialists before proceeding. Once that is done, the process will move forward quickly.” It is clear our decision was to consult stakeholders and then proceed. Later, we approved it at the next Committee. The Public Finance Committee is to discuss Executive fiscal decisions. Though we have a two-thirds, we gave its Chair to the Opposition democratically. Do not misuse that to mislead this House with false statements. Thank you.