The Hon. Sunil Rathnasiri

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, on these regulations under the Foreign Judgments Act No. 49 of 2024, we will now be bound to recognize certain judgments of courts in 53 countries, including Australia and Canada, thus enabling us to adopt those legal outcomes in specified matters.

¶ 02 I also recall where our legal system stood before 21 September 2024. For years, law was applied selectively. Petty offenders suffered maximum penalties while grand thieves who stole billions walked free due to weak, technically flawed prosecutions. Our then Opposition Leader said here that if you knew whose case it was, you could predict the verdict—Rajapaksas’, Wickremesinghes’, Premadasas’ cases ending in acquittals.

¶ 03 Before we came to power, many corrupt politicians went to remand raising their shackled hands like heroes, knowing they would be out in a day or two. Today, no one goes in singing; now there is weeping inside. In this short time, the NPP Government has made Sri Lanka a state where law is enforced.

¶ 04 After the local elections, the Opposition tries to reestablish the old “black state.” They dreamed Sajith Premadasa would be President on 21 September 2024; by the 22nd, that dream faded. Then they tried to form a “Strongest Ever Opposition” in mid-November; by the 15th it collapsed. We told them: if you cannot defeat us alone, come together and try. On 8 May we held local elections. The people delivered an unprecedented result: of 340 local bodies, 267 to the NPP, including 152 with absolute majorities and another 115 with dominant strength. In Colombo we fought a tough battle while also facing a fight in Welikanda Pradeshiya Sabha to form the administration. The night before, the Opposition took their members to a hotel under heavy guard, then rushed them in vans to the council and tried to force proceedings without discussion.

¶ 05 We asked for secret ballots so members could vote with conscience without fear. If votes were open, the Opposition would later hunt down members who voted for our candidate—given their violent history. Thus we demanded secret ballots to protect free will.

¶ 06 Now, seeing many councils filled by NPP members, they say we are doing what the Rajapaksas did. Let me state the difference between Gotabaya Rajapaksa and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Gotabaya first freed himself and his cronies from cases; our leader, who has sat here for two and a half decades, has never sought to quash a case at the Supreme Court. Gotabaya said he would not favour his family, but appointed Mahinda as PM, Basil as Finance Minister, Namal as Sports Minister, Chamal as Highways Minister, Shasheendra as State Minister. Our President has not given any title or privilege to a single relative; we challenge anyone to show otherwise. We, 159 MPs, have not appointed drivers or given positions to relatives at public expense; we will table our personal staff lists and invite the Opposition to do the same.

¶ 07 Gotabaya’s third early act was to grant massive tax concessions to the robber clique that helped bring him to power.

¶ 08 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, my time is up.