The Hon. Arjuna Sujeewa Senasinghe, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I initially had nine minutes—now it’s eight; I don’t know how it reduced.

¶ 02 Listening to Government Ministers and Members, it felt as if J.R. Jayewardene and Gamini Dissanayake were speaking—positions Mahinda Rajapaksa opposed in his day. Left parties then spoke against striking the West—America, etc. I see a significant change in you. Back then you shouted “hands off Venezuela.” Hon. Sunil Watagala is here from the old group. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake then said “let’s try and see.” Now you have changed—fine, we note the change. Back then you said attack America, save Palestine and Iran. As a small country, Sri Lanka must be non-aligned—I agree.

¶ 03 An MP asked, “Why allow the Iranian ship to come? That is a vile act.” That’s her view—I won’t attack it. This is complex; parties and Members will say different things. The President need not answer every utterance; he must resolve issues and proceed. But earlier you did not act like this; you were on a different line—“hit America; if they touch Venezuela, we’ll see.” Now those lines are gone.

¶ 04 Now you don’t talk about Iran or Palestine. We ask: you claim non-alignment—that is correct, and we long maintained it as a small country. But now you are not non-aligned. What agreements have you signed with America? When that ship came, we do not know what is in those agreements—maybe only the President knows. You may or may not know. If we try to cancel, we get hit. With India too, there are several agreements—we do not know what they are. What have we yielded—sovereignty, autonomy? We are a small country; we cannot align.

¶ 05 When China and India had issues, we resolved our arising problems; likewise with Pakistan–India. Ours is a strategically important location; to America, Russia, China, India—Sri Lanka matters. India is our brother country; we share deep ties and religious heritage. India provides a natural buffer in the South. We love India, but should not sign away sovereignty. That is our point.

¶ 06 As United National Party politicians, we have been policy-centric—not shouting “hit America,” nor “let’s see if they touch Venezuela,” nor opposing everything. The President has been dithering. After Cyclone Ditwah, he remained idle for days. He may be capable, but he has not delivered; after four or five days, he made big promises. Still about 4,700 remain displaced in camps. Do not lie. You promised Rs. 1,000 billion; then trickled out Rs. 25,000; the IMF asked to reduce to Rs. 500 billion; now we do not know what happened—barely Rs. 100 billion seems disbursed. Businesses and the poor suffer.

¶ 07 Minister Sunil Handunnetti now says MAS Holdings is closing; the President called the country a “hundu”—but he is the one making it so. Yesterday at the Indian High Commission, a delegation from Karnataka told me India’s growth began in the 1990s with openness under Manmohan Singh. Back then you opposed such reforms—private universities and hospitals—yet Karnataka’s progress came through such avenues, attracting industries later. Here, you blocked those developments; when a private medical college started, you protested and shut it.

¶ 08 Now Mr. Tilvin says there is no such movement in India; yet many protests happened, even insurgent groups emerged, and 60,000 lives were lost. Mr. Tilvin now goes to India in a red shawl—you laugh. I don’t know which party you belong to—some at the back benches I cannot place—JVP or the Frontline Socialist? Mr. Watagala, we fought together against imperialism. Some who fought then now sit here, all smiles. In power you will have two or three years—not our concern. But Anura Kumara Dissanayake and group ruined the country, making it a “hundu,” by blocking development; no investment project could proceed. Now the Central Bank Governor says, “Sri Lanka has room to cut rates, if growth slows,” while growth is falling below 3%; MAS is closing; promises of graphite, fertilizer production, Eppawala phosphate, graphene—all nowhere. This Government is doing nothing.

¶ 09 On foreign policy, we do not know your stance. China is not coming; Mr. Tilvin said Chinese ships will be allowed—now they are not; Chinese investments halted; expressways stopped; China has withdrawn. With India, we do not know what agreements exist. As Hon. Mujibur said, the President tells the UAE President he condemns Iran’s strike, then comes here to speak non-alignment. We must be non-aligned; this is a complex war. When an Iranian ship comes, we shiver—do we take it or not? It is difficult. MPs will state varied opinions—just as you harshly criticized past leaders—Anura, Handunnetti, Vijitha Herath shouted against America over Iran. The President need not respond to every MP—be policy-centric; craft sound foreign and economic policies. Otherwise, in one or two years, the country will be ruined.

¶ 10 Thank you.