The Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, a previous Member said the Muslims and this Government stand firmly with Palestine. I wish to note: Tamil people too stand shoulder to shoulder against the genocide of Palestinians. This does not mean we are anti-Jewish. Jews too suffered genocide and deserve justice. But under the label of “Jews,” the Israeli Government is committing genocide against Palestinians; we must oppose that as a duty to justice and to all peoples.

¶ 02 We are debating Regulations under the Anti-Corruption Act. When governments approve unsustainable projects that the State cannot service, leading to loss of national control, that is corruption to the hilt and involves criminality. Sri Lanka’s past is replete with such acts. The JVP—today the chief partner of the NPP Government—previously accused governments of being bought by foreign interests, not just corrupt. What actions has this Government taken regarding projects they earlier accused as sellouts?

¶ 03 Foremost is the Hambantota Harbour Project. It was bulldozed through despite warnings it was unsustainable, riding on post-war euphoria. When that Government fell, the next was forced—unable to service debt—to lease the port for 99 years to the funding country. Is that not the highest form of corruption and criminality? Should it not be investigated?

¶ 04 The same party returned in 2020; their economic and tax policies crashed the economy utterly. Have we taken steps to hold those actions to account? If you now ignore it, after vociferously accusing then, you risk the same accusation—that you too have been bought. You cannot evade the responsibility to check these matters.

¶ 05 On publishing agreements: my understanding is such agreements are not public by default, but the Government can, in consultation with the counterpart, release them—best practice. Given the 99-year Hambantota lease, it is a public duty to release the agreement to examine its terms and assess its stark unsustainability.

¶ 06 Hon. Presiding Member, my time has ended.