The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake
He supported the presentation of Regulations under the Anti-Corruption Act and said he had complied with asset declaration requirements, but urged the Minister of Justice to respect the Judiciary and avoid public statements implying political responsibility for court-ordered remands. He criticized the Government’s performance, citing concerns over “Clean Sri Lanka,” public events, appointments, statistics, and what he described as reliance on publicized arrests through anti-corruption processes rather than substantive delivery. He called on the Government to correct course, heed Opposition criticisms where valid, protect public confidence in the President, and focus on measurable economic results, including bringing revenue to the Treasury.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, please do not let my time be taken up by others’ quarrels. Today Regulations under the Anti-Corruption Act have been presented by the Minister of Justice. This is good. I was among the first to submit Declarations of Assets and Liabilities in this Parliament and continue to do so.
¶ 02 I respect the Justice Minister as an educated and intelligent person, but when speaking outside, please respect the Judiciary. You stated on TV that it was the NPP that caused certain individuals to be remanded. However, court decisions are delivered by Judges; do not disparage them. If one continues to insult court verdicts, there will be consequences, as we have seen in the past with contempt of court.
¶ 03 This Government is failing in multiple endeavours—projects branded as “Clean Sri Lanka” have not delivered. The Kandy Esala Perahera and other events were mishandled; questions arise about expenditures and outcomes. The Government seems to rely on parading arrests via the Bribery Commission, making spectacles rather than delivering durable results. You cannot run a government by daily theatrics of arrests and releases.
¶ 04 False statistics were shared—claims that 225 tea factories closed were later retracted. Unfit appointments are being made, even to regulatory authorities. On public events, even close associates have faltered publicly—these episodes do not inspire confidence.
¶ 05 I also warn that if one continually insults court judgments, the recorded TV evidence may one day be used in court. Do not make this a habit.
¶ 06 People gave confidence mainly due to faith in the President; do not squander it through mismanagement by others. Ultimately, results matter. Stop spin; deliver substance.
¶ 07 I contributed USD 480 million to the Treasury through my tenure; if possible, bring USD 200 million to the Treasury now. Do not merely prosecute Opposition figures and jail them. Listen: even if 10% of what the Opposition says is true, act on it.
¶ 08 We are not seeking posts; we are asking you to correct course and deliver for the people. Thank you.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Wednesday, 4 June 2025 ·No. 1750240054043973 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
- Page · column
- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
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Cite as: The Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 4 June 2025. No. 1750240054043973. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/7780