The Hon. (Mrs.) Anushka Thilakarathne, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees.

¶ 02 First, on this morning’s uproar about the CMC Mayor: power is people; power is democracy; power is harmony; power is everything—in the sense that people confer political power with expectations of unity, freedom, and a nation free of bribery, corruption, and fraud.

¶ 03 The Opposition claims a “coalition arithmetic” victory: that those behind the leading party can combine their numbers and claim the crown. That is like saying, in a global beauty pageant, the second and third combined are “more beautiful” than the winner, so give them the crown; or in a classroom, add the marks of the second and third and award them first place. That is not how power works. People transferred power to the NPP in Colombo to end decades of lost freedoms and inequality, and to build a clean city administration.

¶ 04 The CMC has produced 24 Mayors in history, 22 from the UNP. For the first time, Colombo has turned red. For the first time, our colleague Vera Kelly Balthazar is Mayor. As an MP, a public representative, a Government Member, and a woman, I wish her well. Colombo, despite vast budgets, left many in squalor—children without education, families in dilapidated housing, foul canals. People voted NPP to change that. Therefore, no one has the right to challenge that mandate.

¶ 05 Moreover, we did not inherit entrenched power or vast ill‑gotten war chests; we fought the hard way. The people’s mandate must be respected.