Topic
Ethnic Reconciliation & Devolution
885 speeches · 164 speakers
Party share
By the speaker's party · counts only, no scoring. "Unattributed" = speeches not resolved to an MP.
Most active on this topic
| # | Member | Speeches |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna, M.P. Independent Group 17 - Jaffna | 67 |
| 2 | Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam, M.P. ITAK | 51 |
| 3 | Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan, M.P. ITAK | 48 |
| 4 | Hon. G.G. Ponnambalam, M.P. ACTC | 37 |
| 5 | Hon. Thurairasa Ravikaran, M.P. ITAK | 30 |
| 6 | Hon. Bimal Rathnayake, M.P. JJB | 27 |
| 7 | Hon. M.S. Uthumalebbe, M.P. SLMC | 25 |
| 8 | Hon. (Dr.) M.L.A.M. Hizbullah, M.P. SLMC | 25 |
| 9 | Hon. Ramalingam Chandrasekar, M.P. JJB | 24 |
| 10 | Hon. Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, M.P. JJB | 19 |
Speeches
885 on this topic- 19 February 2025 Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna Independent Group 17 - Jaffna AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna thanked the Government for allocating Rs. 100 million to the Jaffna Library and, in response to remarks by Hon. Kabir Hashim, apologized on behalf of the people of the Northern Province if the LTTE was responsible for the bombing of Sri Dalada Maligawa. He referred to longstanding discrimination against Tamils since 1983 as the context for past armed conflict, but urged both Government and Opposition parties to stop invoking ethnic issues and focus on moving forward as one country. Debate: Appropriation Bill, 2025 – Second Reading Read →
- 18 February 2025 Hon. (Dr.) Madhura Senevirathna - Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education JJB AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Madhura Senevirathna said Meelad Muslim Vidyalaya’s enrolment had risen sharply, creating a shortage of classrooms and no assembly hall, with 26 additional rooms needed. He explained that the temporary use of Sumantha Vidyalaya, approved by provincial authorities and renovated with about Rs. 2.5–3 million, had led to community tensions, prompting officials to examine alternative locations. He stated that the Dehiwala Coordinating Committee had decided to use Nikape Vidyalaya for immediate accommodation, and said the Ministry would implement the move peacefully while upholding equal educational opportunity regardless of ethnicity or religion. Adjournment Debate: Additional Building for Meelad Vidyalaya, Dehiwala Read →
- 18 February 2025 Hon. S. M. Marikkar SJB AI summary Hon. S. M. Marikkar supported Hon. Mujibur Rahman’s motion, arguing that Muslim children in the Dehiwala–Ratmalana–Moratuwa area must have access to education in their preferred language and to religious education under the national syllabus. He urged the Government to address the long-standing lack of facilities at Meelad without allowing the issue to fuel ethnic tensions, and proposed using unused government buildings or land for immediate relief. He also supported making S. D. S. Jayasinghe Vidyalaya a National School and suggested it become tri-lingual to promote integration among Sinhala and Tamil children. Adjournment Debate: Additional Building for Meelad Vidyalaya, Dehiwala Read →
- 18 February 2025 Hon. (Mrs.) Samanmali Gunasingha JJB AI summary Hon. (Mrs.) Samanmali Gunasingha supported the motion on Meelad Muslim Vidyalaya, noting severe space shortages at the high-demand bilingual school and delays in making the closed Sumantha Vidyalaya building available despite approval in 2024. She said Grade 1 pupils had been left without classrooms after objections raised on ethnic grounds and emphasized the government’s policy direction toward tri-lingual schooling and equal access to education. She outlined interim and long-term measures, including temporary accommodation at Nikape Vidyalaya and consideration of upgrading S.D.S. Jayasinghe Vidyalaya as a tri-lingual national school, and stated that the issue would be resolved within days. Adjournment Debate: Additional Building for Meelad Vidyalaya, Dehiwala Read →
- 18 February 2025 Hon. M. S. Uthumalebbe SLMC AI summary Hon. M. S. Uthumalebbe urged the leadership of Parliament to ensure justice, fairness, and respect for the dignity of all Members regardless of changes in government or opposition. He argued that unity within Parliament is necessary to promote ethnic unity in the country and called on all sides to work together on matters beneficial to Sri Lanka. Adjourned Debate on Second Reading of the 2025 Budget Read →
- 18 February 2025 The Hon. M.K.M. Aslam JJB AI summary Hon. M.K.M. Aslam supported the Budget as a citizen-focused programme that reduces privileges for politicians and directs funds to health, education, transport, rural roads and provincial development. He highlighted allocations for schools, buses and railways, and argued that development should be viewed nationally rather than through constituency-specific claims. He drew attention to grievances of Tamil plantation workers in the Ridigama and Raddagoda areas, including access to schools, buses, public officers, postal services, hospitals and police, and said he had intervened with local officials to extend an SLTB bus service to Panagama Annoor Central College and improve administrative access. Adjourned Debate on Second Reading of the 2025 Budget Read →
- 18 February 2025 The Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna Independent Group 17 - Jaffna AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna welcomed the NPP Government’s allocation of significant funds to the Northern Province. He also expressed appreciation for the President’s and Prime Minister’s visits to the North, describing them as historically noteworthy. Adjourned Debate on Second Reading of the 2025 Budget Read →
- 18 February 2025 The Hon. K. Kader Masthan SLLP AI summary K. Kader Masthan said the Budget contains measures intended to benefit the public, including allocations for upcountry communities to improve livelihoods and living standards. He also welcomed increased education funding, noting that in the war-affected North some children still study without proper classrooms, and referred to earlier allocations and ongoing construction work to improve school facilities. Adjourned Debate on Second Reading of the 2025 Budget Read →
- 18 February 2025 The Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan ITAK AI summary Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan said his party does not oppose the Budget’s development objectives, noting that a government Bill had passed unanimously the previous day with 187 votes. He urged the Government to use the current political moment to bring forward a federal-based solution to the ethnic issue, asserting that it would receive support in Parliament and among the Sinhala public. Adjourned Debate on Second Reading of the 2025 Budget Read →
- 18 February 2025 The Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan ITAK AI summary Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan argued that Sri Lanka has a longstanding unresolved ethnic question, citing the Banda–Chelva Pact, the Dudley–Chelva Pact, the Sinhala Only Act, and S.J.V. Chelvanayakam’s call for federal power-sharing with safeguards for Tamil-speaking people. He said Tamil demands for equal citizenship, language, land, and identity have historically been met with repression, and urged the Government to recognize the Tamil nation and pursue a durable political solution. He also invited cooperation from Tamils and the diaspora, stating that reconciliation, economic recovery, and national progress depend on an arrangement in which both communities can live with dignity. Adjourned Debate on Second Reading of the 2025 Budget Read →
- 18 February 2025 The Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan ITAK AI summary Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan criticised the Budget’s expenditure structure, arguing that recurrent spending is too high and capital investment too low for economic recovery, and formally objected to the Rs. 442 billion defence allocation in the absence of war, particularly given unresolved resettlement, land return, and military presence issues in Tamil areas. He questioned how the Government’s stated vision of a united and prosperous Sri Lanka would protect the identities, dignity, language rights, and political rights of Tamil, Sinhala, Up-country Tamil, and Muslim communities. He said appeals to the diaspora, especially the Tamil diaspora, must be accompanied by credible engagement with the Tamil political question, including recognition of Tamils as a national people. Citing Singapore and historical discussions of federalism, including S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike’s 1926 writings, he urged reflection on constitutional and political arrangements to ensure unity and trust. Adjourned Debate on Second Reading of the 2025 Budget Read →
- 17 February 2025 The Hon. Rohana Bandara AI summary Hon. Rohana Bandara supported holding the long-delayed local government elections and said the Bill annulling previous nominations and calling fresh nominations should require a two-thirds majority. He criticized the current local government electoral system as distorted, arguing it weakens grassroots political advancement, creates unstable councils, and enables clientelism and internal conflicts. While welcoming women’s representation, he said implementation of quotas had sometimes sidelined active candidates and called for further amendments, noting many local government candidates would prefer a return to the old system. Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill: Second Reading Read →
- 17 February 2025 The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law - Minister of Justice and National Integration JJB AI summary The Minister argued that the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill is needed because the 2023 local government elections were unlawfully postponed, leaving communities without elected local representatives and prompting Supreme Court findings on violations of fundamental rights. He said the Bill would enable fresh nominations because the earlier nominations closed in January 2023 and new voters were added in 2024, thereby protecting both the right to vote and the right to contest. While acknowledging concerns about the size and structure of local authorities, he said such reforms should not delay elections and affirmed that the Government would hold the polls at the earliest date determined by the Election Commission. Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill: Second Reading Read →
- 17 February 2025 The Hon. Chathura Galappaththi SJB AI summary Hon. Chathura Galappaththi argued that the issue before Parliament should be not only the timing of local government elections but also the defects of the current ward-based electoral system. He said the system creates practical problems for chairmen and members, weakens leadership development, and can produce unfair or unrepresentative outcomes through ward results and proportional lists. He urged the Government, given its two-thirds majority, to hold elections promptly while reforming the system by restoring the former proportional preference model with youth and women’s quotas and stronger campaign finance rules. Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill: Second Reading Read →
- 17 February 2025 The Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna Independent Group 17 - Jaffna AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna welcomed some Budget measures for Jaffna but said the Northern Province lacked specific health and development proposals, requesting intervention on unsafe hospital waste disposal in Aariyalai–Kombayan Manal and raising concerns about administration at Jaffna Teaching Hospital. He urged safer official transport for MPs after Hon. Ilankumar’s accident, more attention to doctors’ retention, compensation for those affected by the Teyitti Vihara issue, and action to protect northern fishermen from South Indian trawler incursions. He also asked for more time to submit DCC project proposals, urged that new viharas be built only on State land rather than public common lands, and called for Palaly Airport to be upgraded to international status. Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill: Second Reading Read →
- 17 February 2025 The Hon. Ramalingam Chandrasekar - Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources JJB AI summary The Minister supported the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill, citing the court order requiring the local government elections to proceed and rejecting claims of legal or practical grounds for postponement. He argued that local authorities are essential to grassroots administration and daily public services, and that their dysfunction has harmed village-level governance. He criticized past delays to elections and referenced historical anti-democratic actions, including the 1981 District Development Council election violence and burning of the Jaffna Library, as warnings against undermining democratic rights. He stated that the Government would take necessary steps to hold the elections, strengthen democracy, and return responsibility to locally elected representatives. Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill: Second Reading Read →
- 17 February 2025 The Hon. (Ms.) Kaushalya Ariyarathne JJB AI summary Hon. Kaushalya Ariyarathne supported the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill while emphasizing that local government elections are central to popular sovereignty, decentralization, and citizens’ daily needs under the Constitution. She cited Supreme Court jurisprudence, including the 2023 decision on election postponement, to argue that delays to elections infringe fundamental rights and cannot be justified by exams, the Budget Debate, New Year, or economic difficulties. She acknowledged concerns about a level playing field, especially campaign finance barriers for women and youth, but argued that these require reform rather than postponement, and called for the election to be held swiftly. Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill: Second Reading Read →
- 17 February 2025 The Hon. Mano Ganesan SJB AI summary Hon. Mano Ganesan urged the Minister of Public Security to investigate a reported assault on a Tamil youth at the Udulgama/Homadola Division of Watawala Plantations, alleging that dogs were set on the victim and calling for police action against those responsible. He linked the incident to wider concerns about abuses and racism affecting Malaiyagam communities in plantation areas, including in the South, and asked the Government to prevent recurrence. He then argued that holding local government elections during the Budget Debate would deny Opposition Members a level playing field, as they must attend Parliament while also campaigning, and requested fair campaign conditions rather than postponement. Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill: Second Reading Read →
- 17 February 2025 The Hon. P. Ruwan Senarath - Deputy Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government JJB AI summary The Deputy Minister supported the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill as necessary to hold the long-postponed elections for 340 local authorities and restore elected representation for local service delivery. He said the Bill would cancel old nominations, permit new nominations, provide for deposit refunds, and expand opportunities for youth and women candidates, including a 25 per cent youth representation requirement. He linked timely elections to implementing Government priorities such as rural poverty reduction, digitalization, Clean Sri Lanka, waste management and local infrastructure, while criticizing alleged efforts to delay the polls and calling on the Opposition to state clearly whether it supports holding them promptly. Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill: Second Reading Read →
- 17 February 2025 Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice and National Unity AI summary The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice and National Unity met on 17 February 2025 under the chairmanship of Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara. The record lists participating Members, including representatives from government and opposition, but does not contain the substance of deliberations, proposals, questions, or decisions. Parliamentary Structure and Committees Read →