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Sumanthiran slams Gota’s policy statement saying we’ve become a nation of beggars

Published

3 years ago

2022/01/23

TNA MP MA Sumanthiran slammed President Rajapaksa’s policy statement saying that two thirds of the country’s foreign exchange problems created in the last 15 years was under the watch of his brother’s government.

The country continues holding out a begging bowl and “waits for somebody to come and give us our next meal. We really don’t know where it’s coming from or how we will pay for it.”: Excerpts of his speech:

The president’s was a listless policy statement with no policy stated and a few issues identified but no answers given. Nothing to get excited about requiring a three-day debate.

He was right when he identified one issue when he said “the more serious challenge we face today in economic management is a current foreign exchange problem”. That we all know and then he says “today we are encountering the climax, of a problem for which a number of governments have failed to provide a lasting solution”. He rightly doesn’t blame just the last government, he blames a number of previous governments and if you go back for two more governments in the past, those were the governments headed by President Mahinda Rajapakse.

So he has fairly laid the blame for the crises that the country faces today. If you take the last 15 years, two thirds of that was the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse. And says that they failed to provide a lasting solution. But as I said, he identifies the issue, he lays the blame on the shoulders of someone else, his own brother, but doesn’t provide a solution or direction.

A policy statement of a government is one that gives a direction, one that points in a particular way to give the people confidence. One that says this is the path that we will tread, this is how we intend tackling these issues. While he makes the statement, we are told by text messages that another 500 million US dollars has been put into our begging bowl.

It’s like a daily existence now for this country. We hold a bowl ad wait out there, and someone has to come and give us the next meal. That is the level to which the country’s finances have come to. We really don’t know where our next month’s supplies are going to come from. Or how we will pay towards that.

When the country is facing such an enormous challenge, all that the president has to say is just this one paragraph two sentences, one identifies the problem, the other lays the blame on someone else’s shoulder.

He started his speech by rightly identifying the fact that there are different members in this House, elected by different people with different mandates. So he said right at the beginning of his speech. But as he went along he probably forgot how he recognizes this House. Because when it came to the people of the North and the East, he said something that was opposite to how he started this speech.

And this is very very serious, I quote the president when he said “we regard governments prime responsibility towards reconciliation as providing such facilities to these people without discrimination;” this is talking about the people in the North and the East, it is an insult to the people who’ve been struggling and fighting for their dignity to be treated as equals in this country. That’s far more important than what he identifies here as facilities.

They haven’t been fighting for facilities, they have been fighting for their equal citizenship right, their right to self-determination, their right to self-rule, for share of powers of governance, and for the president to reduce all of that to a level of saying, “you know that there are basic facilities that are necessary, that is what will bring about reconciliation” says much about what he understands the National Problem to be.

Then he says therefore I urge the members of Parliament representing the people of the North and East of this Parliament to set aside various political ideologies at least temporarily and support the government’s effort to improve the living conditions of the people of those areas. Having recognized that we have different mandates from our people, he says set aside your ideologies even temporarily. what does he mean by ideologies? I read the Sinhala and Tamil texts it should have been translated “policies” – your party policies.

Our party policy is a mandate we have received from our people. And that is a consistent mandate that we have received for which we serve our people. We don’t listen to others who tell us how we serve our people. We listen to our people and the mandate that they give us. So it is not for even His Excellency the President to tell us to lay aside the mandate that our people have given us, and to join him in providing basic facilities.

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Poson Week will be observed from June 7 to June 13

Published

21 mins ago

2025/05/22

Priyan

The Chief Incumbent of Mihintale Rajamaha Viharaya, Ven. Walawahengunawewa Dhammarathana Thero, expressed his appreciation to the government for its decision to hold the Poson Festival 2025 with full state patronage.

The Nayaka Thero made these remarks during a discussion held on Wednesday (21) at the Presidential Secretariat regarding the State Poson Festival 2025.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs , Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senevi and Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.

Venerable Dhammarathana Thero further reiterated that it is the responsibility of the government to reinstate the State Poson Festival, which has been on hold since 2023, and to safeguard it for the benefit of future generations.

The theme of this year’s State Poson Festival will be “May the world be enlightened by the teachings of Buddha.”

In line with the State Poson Festival, a series of religious programmes focusing on offerings of both material and doctrinal significance will commence from June 1.

Poson Week will be observed from June 7 to June 13. During this period, it was decided to close all liquor outlets in the Anuradhapura District to maintain the sanctity of the observances.

Special attention was also drawn to ensuring that all necessary facilities are provided for the thousands of pilgrims expected to visit Anuradhapura during the festival period.

Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, instructed state officials to take appropriate measures to facilitate the successful conduct of the State Poson Festival.

Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage, Director General of Buddhist Affairs R.M.P. Rathnayake and other Heads of institutions were also present at the occasion.

News

‘India-UK FTA could adversely impact SL apparel exports’

Published

4 hours ago

2025/05/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

NEXT factory closure in Katunayake ominous sign: Trade Exprt

One-time Director General of Commerce, Gomi Senadhira, has warned that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the United Kingdom, signed on 06 May, could cause a significant drop in Sri Lanka garment exports to the UK.

The FTA is expected to take effect in January 2026. In an exclusive article to The Island––carried in today’s edition––Senadhira has said that the FTA will provide India with a nearly 10 percent tariff advantage. India would gain at the expense of other exporters, including Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka’s former Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organisation, from January 2004 to December 2006, said.

Senadhira

The trade expert, contacted for comment, following the sudden closure of the NEXT Katunayake production unit, said it was an ominous sign. NEXT is the largest apparel retailer in the UK and perhaps NEXT factories are the only manufacturing plants owned by a British retailer in Sri Lanka.

Senadhira also chaired the WTO Committee on Trade and Development (2005). Prior to his appointment in Geneva, he served as the Minister (Commercial and Economic Affairs) in the Sri Lanka Mission to European Communities in Brussels (2001 – 2003) and the Embassy of Sri Lanka, Washington D.C. (1998 – 2001).

Senadhira has found fault with the government for its failure to address the issues at hand while underscoring the importance of public discussions with trade chambers, think tanks, exporters and the media.

The independent trade consultant has explained how Sri Lanka’s exports to the UK eroded over the years, primarily due to our failure to face competition from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, Pakistan and Vietnam.

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Shritharan praises Canadian Tamil Genocide Monument and slams Sri Lankan politicians

Published

4 hours ago

2025/05/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

A weeping woman at a plaque put up in memory of those who had been killed allegedly by the military. MP Shritharan stands by her (pic courtesy Tamil Guardian)

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) MP Shritharan recently condemned continued genocide denial by senior Sri Lankan politicians, the Tamil Guardian reported.

The lawmaker was addressing a remembrance event held in Neduntheevu to mark the 40th anniversary of the Kumuthini massacre.

“The Sinhala supremacists who claim that no genocide was committed against the Eelam Tamils are attempting to blind the eyes and conscience of the world,” Shritharan said, denouncing ongoing state-sponsored historical revisionism.

On the occasion, which commemorated the massacre of Tamil civilians aboard the Kumuthini vessel in 1984, Shritharan conveyed his gratitude to international actors who have supported Tamil efforts for justice and recognition.

In particular, he extended thanks to the Canadian Prime Minister and the Mayor of Brampton for their role in recognising the Tamil genocide.

Reflecting on the long arc of massacres carried out across the Tamil homeland, Shritharan stated:

“From the boat of Kumuthini, the seas of Gurunagar, Kokkilai, Chathurukondan, Vakarai, Navali, and Nagercoil, all the way to Mullivaikkal—massacres were carried out in waves, systematically annihilating Tamils one group at a time.”

He sharply criticised members of Sri Lanka’s current political leadership, stating:

“Even today, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, along with Namal Rajapaksa and Ali Sabry, continue to shamelessly deny that a genocide took place in Tamil Eelam.”

Such statements, Shritharan said, constitute a blatant insult to the world’s conscience and reflect the deep-seated Sinhala hegemonic racism embedded within the ruling establishment.

In contrast to this denialism, Shritharan hailed the recent unveiling of a Tamil Genocide Memorial in Brampton, Canada, as a landmark in the global recognition of Tamil suffering and resistance.

“Amid such open racism from Sri Lanka’s ruling establishment, the establishment of a Genocide Memorial in Brampton serves as international testimony to the undeniable truth that what happened in Eelam was indeed genocide,” he declared.