Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna

¶ 01 Stopwatch has been stopped. Look at my stopwatch. I will start again. Only 9 minutes and 53 seconds have elapsed so far.

¶ 02 Alright, I will speak. Do not shout. Kids shout anyway. If kids have something to say, let them stand up and say we are— [Interruption.] Now start shouting. I am the one who got you all the vehicles. One day you asked who requested the vehicles—

¶ 03 You have two more minutes, Madam says. You all got pickup trucks because of me. Remember that; I will come back to the speech. Give me a moment. Listen. Give me a moment and listen. Truly, I apologize for having slept yesterday. I landed at 6.00 p.m. by flight. I woke up at 7.00 a.m. to take my son to the 5.00/10.00 [inaudible]—I could not stay and listen. In the evening there was four and a half hours of [session]. Normally, even a one-hour lecture cannot be sat through. So I truly apologize.

¶ 04 Secondly, I wish our President well. Truly my—

¶ 05 This clock shows 10 minutes and 13 seconds. Madam, I am watching the time. Please, Madam, I am watching the time.

¶ 06 I set my stopwatch; that is all. We know your games. Play those games at home. I have set my stopwatch.

¶ 07 If I am not to speak, say so; I will sit down. Okay?

¶ 08 If I am not to speak, say so; I will sit down.

¶ 09 First listen. If you do not want me to speak, say so; I will sit down.

¶ 10 I will say this: I wish the President well. This is a honeymoon Budget. Now, to that side I say this— [Interjections.] Please be silent and do not obstruct.

¶ 11 You may speak.

¶ 12 Please be silent.

¶ 13 [Expunged on the order of the Chair.]

¶ 14 Alright. I am keeping my own time, okay? But to be honest, I am in the Opposition; therefore I do not say this is a bad Budget, nor do I have a right to say the Government will fall because of this Budget. I am a fair man. I am the only person in this Parliament who is independent. Then you all can genuinely ask yourselves whether I am working against you at any time. So I will never say the Budget is bad. People must say whether the Budget is good. People must judge that. But I will say this: this is a honeymoon period. In the honeymoon period, things look nice. Everyone has one. It is a bit hard for people watching from the Opposition to just look on at your honeymoon. For some, that is difficult. But we are people who watch it patiently. So it is not hard for us. We do not think your Budget should fail. Remember that. But I will say one thing: nothing has been given to the North. That is why I released that voice cut. To the North—after all these years of war—go and see our small roads. If you have any conscience, raise your hand and look. Come and see our roads. See how our children travel to school in the bus. That is all we ask. But you all label us as Tigers, as terrorists. Yet none of you have the courage to call Prabhakaran a terrorist. We do not call our gods terrorists. But as for your Rohana Wijeweera, we can say—if I must, even if I am shot—I will say those who died are war heroes.

¶ 15 Hon. Member, your allotted time is over.

¶ 16 I lost three minutes. Give me one more minute to conclude.

¶ 17 Where did you lose three minutes, Hon. Member? Your allotted time is over.

¶ 18 Now it shows 13 minutes and 28 seconds. After all this, there is no point in having spoken. Do not do this to me. Then why did you allow a Point of Order during my speech time?

¶ 19 Time is over; please take your seat.

¶ 20 Hold on. I will say this: yesterday I slept, that is all. I am not LGBTQ. I do not do LGBTQ work. So sometimes if I stay up late at night, I must sleep in the morning. You all always wake up early.

¶ 21 [Expunged on the order of the Chair.]

¶ 22 You can do that. You people have neither families nor marriages.

¶ 23 Please conclude, Hon. Member.

¶ 24 I will finish. Why this fuss? You have neither families nor marriages. That is why you have pushed out that narrative. In my next speeches I will point out the flaws in your Budget.

¶ 25 Thank you.