The Hon. Ajith Gihan
Hon. Ajith Gihan responded to concerns raised about renewing driving licences for Sri Lankans working in Italy, stating that previous governments had failed to create a process. He said he had raised the matter in Parliament and that the Foreign Affairs Ministry, following discussions with Italian diplomatic officials, expected to establish a renewal process within about two months. He rejected the Opposition’s criticism as inaccurate and said the Government was taking steps to address the issue for Sri Lankans overseas.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, Hon. Hector Appuhami made a big lament here a short while ago regarding renewal of driving licences for Sri Lankans working in Italy. As a Member for Puttalam, I know this issue. For years, previous governments did nothing to set up a process. Hon. Hector Appuhami was in this Parliament then—did he challenge his own government? He knowingly made a false statement.
¶ 02 As a new MP I raised this in Parliament; our Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs replied, clearly stating that steps were being taken. Recently, Italian diplomatic officials visited Sri Lanka; we discussed and made necessary interventions. In about two months, we will have a process for Sri Lankans in Italy to renew licences. He spoke knowingly against facts, and ran out without waiting for an answer. That is today’s Opposition—leaping with any lie without restraint. It is shameful.
¶ 03 He has insulted the Sri Lankan community in Italy, whereas we have acted swiftly. We are far ahead of you; when you think, we are already doing. This government has intervened abroad on behalf of Sri Lankans accordingly.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Tuesday, 7 October 2025 ·No. 22573 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
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/lk/speeches/9970
Cite as: The Hon. Ajith Gihan. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 7 October 2025. No. 22573. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/9970