The Hon. Namal Rajapaksa, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 No, you said everything was in place. But what are you saying now? You said after 2025 rice won’t be imported; now you are importing rice and even used rice. Instead of giving relief to develop local production—agriculture, industry, small businesses—without implementing a proper plan, you have removed duties on imported goods, slashed CESS, and removed taxes on imported items. Is that right? What happens then to the small-scale seamstresses who sew at home and sell at the village fair? Is your “village-building” tax policy to help them? Who are you trying to fool, Hon. Deputy Speaker?

¶ 02 Some reliefs are from May. Is it a sin for people to happily celebrate Sinhala New Year? If you are giving relief, give it during the Sinhala–Hindu New Year. Why can’t you? Are you waiting till May because of your auspicious times? People in this country celebrate the New Year—why can’t you provide relief then?

¶ 03 On the Middle East crisis, the Opposition, the public and experts kept warning. Did the Government listen? No. You said we had 45 days of fuel, so not to worry. Someone said fuel would last till August. Then you cried later. We do not want to keep people hungry, drag them to the streets, cut power and seek votes—that is your politics. The other day you secretly cut power too, and when questioned, you gave a story like “the beetle fell off.” Hon. Deputy Speaker, you deliberately distanced the public from renewable power and tied them to diesel power plants.

¶ 04 The President himself has made two different statements about coal. Earlier he told Parliament there was fraud in the tender but he didn’t fully understand it. Yesterday he said there were minor issues in the tender, but the coal wasn’t inspected by tasting. Hon. Deputy Speaker, even if the President did not “taste” when buying coal, when the coal ship arrived it’s clear someone had “tasted” it well.

¶ 05 The President hounded the Auditor-General. You remember how long we pressed in this House to have her appointed; it was delayed for months with all sorts of maneuvers. Now look at the Audit Report: the supplying company was not registered. The laboratory report was wrong, a fake report, from an unregistered lab. Is this how far you go with fraud, Hon. Deputy Speaker? And the President came to Parliament to defend it. Why? Those who laughed—don’t. Because when the coal arrived, even if you claim you didn’t taste, it’s plain someone did.

¶ 06 In the end, who paid for this? The people. You said you couldn’t stop it because the company would go bankrupt if the tender was halted. The State Minister D.V. Chanaka said in this Parliament in 2025 that the coal tender was being delayed and there was fraud. You heard all this and still pressed on. You knew low-grade coal was coming; you knew the supplier lacked proper registration; you arranged a report from a non-accredited lab. You defended it here and outside. You said if the tender was stopped, the company would go bankrupt. Is your priority the company’s solvency or the people’s? Finally, the same Government that said fuel would last till August had to hike electricity tariffs and fuel prices. This coal scam directly contributed. Feeling sorry for a supplier, you heaped the burden on the people.

¶ 07 Hon. Deputy Speaker, we respectfully urge the President even now to stop shielding these companies. You yourself said your party contains “vermin.” Let the President decide who the vermin are; otherwise people will think he is one too.

¶ 08 Now fuel prices are up. Public servants still rely on the one-time March allowance. Will you increase it? Or should they spend their meagre money on higher-priced fuel? During elections you promised to raise public servants’ salaries biannually. The cost of living has risen by 300 percent. Will the Government led by the President increase salaries? Will you intervene to secure relief for private-sector employees? Just shouting slogans won’t fix this, Hon. Deputy Speaker.

¶ 09 Next, you pushed the farmer onto the street. You talk of fertilizer subsidies—where are they? What is the paddy price? Are you purchasing paddy? No. Why? Because your policy is to favour a few cronies, not the public.