The Hon. Arjuna Sujeewa Senasinghe, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Thank you for the opportunity, Hon. Presiding Member.

¶ 02 This is an important subject—organized crime and the drug menace. We extend our fullest support to this proposal. Two senior Ministers are present. Let me be frank: no Opposition MP has spoken against this. Except for a small number of users and a few involved in crime, the whole country knows these are bad things. There is no point rehashing it. You have not been accused by us regarding this; what you must do is deliver on Government promises—reduce the cost of living, develop the country, eradicate crimes including drugs, and strengthen the nation. But what are you doing? When ministries fail, when you can’t run them, officials say ministers are arrogant, don’t listen, don’t know the job. To cover this inability, each month you pick a topic: first prisoners and animals, then “Batalanda,” then Minister Nalinda Jayatissa presented lists—many were withdrawn. It yielded nothing for the country or us—perhaps some political mileage for you. This is not good.

¶ 03 Hon. Minister Nalinda Jayatissa, in countries like the USA, unless demand is reduced, you cannot stop the drug flow. The FBI, DEA and others work together. If demand in the USA isn’t curtailed, drugs from Colombia and Mexico won’t stop. Seizures capture only 3–5 percent. We must reduce demand and rehabilitate users. You do not address this. People are frightened about “ice.” In the past we thought of names like Susanthika, Aravinda—now I am ashamed to mention the names you promote. Who are the “heroes” shown to our children? These drug traffickers. Your Government fetes them like national heroes, flying them home while displaying them. You do this to mask your incompetence—telling children this is “entertainment” and aspiration. Some ministers even call criminals “talented”—I don’t know if he misspoke. You say the Opposition does not speak about this—there’s nothing to debate; just stop it. Take the necessary steps; don’t use this to cover your failures.

¶ 04 Our economic growth has fallen. Ranil Wickremesinghe took growth from negative to 5.2 percent; now it has fallen. It should be around 5.8 percent, especially for a country rebounding from collapse—6 to 6.5 percent is needed to service debt. That is not happening. The US discourages travel to Sri Lanka calling it Marxist. The US Ambassador is here—close to your side, and to Minister Harini Amarasuriya and to Anura Kumara Dissanayake—yet despite all the talks, we’ve lost support from China, India and the US. What is the end result?

¶ 05 I do not know the Minister of Public Security’s past; he is not Ananda Wijepala—he is the Minister of Public Security. Yet he blurted out yesterday something he should not have. Minister Nalinda Jayatissa saved him two or three times; he has some political understanding. But your approach is wrong. Yesterday, before the blood had even dried, you labeled the deceased with an epithet. You also have issues with your own name being associated—we won’t discuss that. But you muddied the waters, branding the man a criminal. Anura Kumara Dissanayake earlier said when criminals are killed, “History doesn’t matter; no one has the right to kill.” But what did you do? You gave a push to the underworld, saying “killing a criminal is fine, kill the rest too.” He was a chairman of a local authority. Forget politics—did we ever say in 1988–89 that killing JVP killers extra-judicially by the Army or Police was okay? No. There is law; police should investigate, go to court, prove the case and punish accordingly. You trivialize incidents immediately. If it’s the Opposition, you say he’s underworld; if it’s the Government, he’s a puppy or kitten. When a gate of a Government supporter’s house is shot at, you don’t say he’s underworld; when two go missing at sea in your own district, you don’t say they’re underworld.

¶ 06 After this person became Chairman and took strong action against extortion, issues arose. He even wrote to the Minister of Public Security. Hon. Minister, take responsibility. Start here. Don’t talk about his old cases. You are responsible for public security for 22 million. Even if Minister Jayatissa understands as Health Minister, you must say the right thing. Who he was or where he was is irrelevant—he has been killed. What did you say? You sent a message that since he had “problems,” killing him is fine, and others with similar “problems” should be killed too. I don’t know where you were in 1988–89, but such statements by a Minister are unacceptable. Earlier, when shooting occurred inside court, Minister Jayatissa rightly said it was a crime and a security issue, while you said there was no security problem—even when someone shot in the middle of a court! Likewise, when Anura Kumara asked the President how shootings happen in broad daylight, you downplayed it when it happens under your watch.

¶ 07 Hon. Minister, I will submit this letter to you. You and the IGP must be held accountable and take disciplinary action, as you were informed in advance. I did not agree with Minister Jayatissa yesterday when he said they would investigate and tell who did it—this is not how you answer crimes. You cannot respond to 1988–89 killings by later “finding out and telling.” That is not the solution.

¶ 08 Let me read the Chairman’s letter: “I believe that when I come to court or leave the Pradeshiya Sabha, there is an attempt to assassinate me. Several underworld gangs have threatened me. I have received credible information that they said they would kill me. Through social media…” (names withheld). I will not mention names as I do not want to glorify such characters. “…Due to all these circumstances, I feel there is a grave threat to my life, and as these threats are rapidly escalating, I respectfully request that appropriate measures be taken to ensure my personal security.” This was written to the IGP. What was done thereafter? At least the Minister should have said, “We received such a letter; there was a threat; we tried to provide security.” You said you would do an assessment. We keep hearing of assessments, even for MPs—where are they? We are not afraid; we watched your Government’s actions for a year.

¶ 09 As a responsible Minister, you should have said yesterday: “We received such a letter; this is a heinous act; we are conducting investigations and will bring the perpetrators before court.” You are not a member of the JVP here. Your conduct is highly inappropriate. Who spoke about Lakshman Kadirgamar in this way? This is shameful. I expected better from the Government.

¶ 10 [Interjections and time reminders]

¶ 11 This year there have been 100 shootings—a century. You said these could be stopped in a month. Look at the trend. Don’t cause a national “tuition”—you are the ones who need the lessons.

¶ 12 This is your Government, not ours. We know your capabilities; we told you to try running even a supermarket—now the people can see the results. You make a lot of noise; whether results will come is another matter. If this continues, the country will be ruined, debt unpaid, and the country will become an underworld haven. That is the message I wanted to give the esteemed Ministers. Thank you.