The Hon. Mahinda Jayasinghe - Deputy Minister of Labour

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, today we take up the Convention against Doping in Sport (Amendment) Bill for debate and approval. If an athlete uses prohibited stimulants, their competitions are banned, their participation in sport is banned, and even a victory can be annulled.

¶ 02 Looking at today’s debate, I wonder whether some in the Opposition are “on banned stimulants.” They contested the recent elections and won; if they doped, decisions must follow. From the way they talk—about “ice,” about Thajudeen, about how the entire country was turned into a narcotics epidemic in the past—some of them seem allergic to these topics. They demand we avoid, smear, or disparage them. We once thought only the Rajapaksas and the Pohottuwa panicked at these subjects. Now it appears some in the SJB, even those around the Hon. Sajith Premadasa, the Leader of the Opposition, are also unsettled. I even saw a report that an SJB candidate in Horowpothana was caught with drugs recently. Perhaps that explains their panic.

¶ 03 Let me be clear to the country: on 21 September last year and again on 14 November, the people entrusted us with a mandate—to create a safer tomorrow for our children. Whatever the slander, we will not abandon that responsibility.

¶ 04 The Opposition seems to forget: in January 2015, when Maithripala Sirisena became President, a central pledge on their platforms was justice for the 17 May 2012 murder of Wasim Thajudeen. Yet after five years of the Maithri–Ranil–Sajith government, what happened? Now, as investigations progress, the Rajapaksas’ panic is no surprise; but why is the SJB panicking? Back then, the then-IGP Ilangakoon was leaned on to insist it was an accident. A then-JMO—now deceased—issued flawed medical opinions. But in 2015–2016, inquiries confirmed it was murder: bones fractured, internal organs severely damaged.

¶ 05 Today, those who now clasp hands with Namal Rajapaksa—SJB figures among them—and those like Rajitha Senaratne who once said Thajudeen was tortured in a medieval manner—teeth extracted, seven ribs broken, legs broken—should reflect. Rajitha even alleged the First Lady made 42 calls from Temple Trees during the episode. When such claims resurface, the Pohottuwa panics. But why the SJB?

¶ 06 Namal Rajapaksa, who is not in the House today, says “justice should be done” in Thajudeen. How did they “pursue justice”? By erasing, suppressing, and burying evidence. Yet evidence resurfaces through those connected to the organized criminals. Hence their growing panic. When the Police Media Spokesman stated that “Kajja’s” vehicle followed Thajudeen’s car and Kajja’s wife had identified it, some scrambled to question where Kajja’s wife was and with whom—irrelevancies from agitated minds.

¶ 07 On “ice” and the so-called “container 323,” despite the Police Media Spokesman and others clarifying that the two seized containers on land owned by MP Sampath Manthreeperi were not among “container 323,” Pohottuwa and SJB still parade that story. The President-appointed committee’s report is with the CID. Keep carrying those containers on your heads for five years; the people are taking them off your heads, and will finish the job over the next four.

¶ 08 Some Opposition MPs said the NPP wants to jail teachers. In both recent elections, teachers and principals played a special role. We have never passed any decision here against anyone, whether they voted for us or not. Every regulation and decision we have brought has been for the people. Some lawyers and others prematurely claimed teachers will be jailed, yet the Bill has not even been passed. On first reading we discussed it; the President, Hon. Anura Dissanayake, clearly said we can pass it with amendments—or not at all. Yet fearmongering about teachers continues.

¶ 09 Hon. Presiding Member, as a former teacher you know: Circular 12/2016 issued by then Education Secretary Banduseana clearly banned corporal punishment in schools. The first circular on this dates back to 1907. Many circulars since then prohibited corporal punishment. Do not mislead the public with lies—like linking a recent assault on a teacher in Moneragala to the Bill which is not yet law.

¶ 10 Some who sold their MP positions for Rs. 800 million or a billion now ask us about shame. Finally, on a day we debate anti-doping, many in the Opposition look like they are living off prohibited stimulants. With that, I conclude. Thank you for the extra time, Hon. Presiding Member.