Hon. Upul Kithsiri

Madam Deputy Chairperson of Committees, today we debate the Resolution to approve the extension of the Emergency Regulations under the Public Security Ordinance. The Opposition, represented by Hon. P. Sathyalingam, expressed doubts that extending Emergency is intended to act against democracy. I must remind him: for long periods, former rulers of this country used laws, regulations and proclamations against people who would not yield to their rule, who would not become pawns in their election campaigns. He may recall the burning of the Jaffna Library and the killing of innocent Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala youth. Therefore, his concern is understandable. But, Madam, our President has said we will never use these Emergency Regulations to abolish or invalidate the democratic rights of the people. The Leader of the Opposition asked whether Emergency is necessary to distribute Rs. 25,000 or Rs. 50,000. Of course Emergency is not required to distribute such payments. However, when the President came to Parliament and announced relief to those affected, the Opposition Leader rushed to some relief centre, quickly stirred up unrest among the people by asking whether they got the benefits, and caused agitation. Under these Emergency Regulations, the Commissioner General of Essential Services has been empowered. On one hand, we must prevent the unsettling of already distressed people. We must stop the repeated efforts by some in the Opposition, especially the team including the Leader of the Opposition, to agitate the public. Madam Deputy Chairperson, the Opposition Leader claims monks are being arrested using the Emergency. Another says monks are being taken into custody under Emergency. I remind him of a time when a chief monk who raised his voice for justice for youth in a village was not allowed to return to his temple; when the Dhamma wheel and the robe were cast aside and innocent people were brutally killed after being paid. History records in black letters that the orchestration of such acts was done by his father. He did not have the pain then that he pretends to have today; now he comes to Parliament shedding crocodile tears. Madam, the Opposition Leader has presented different views at different times on education reforms. The constant allegation has been that education is being privatized. But this time that word has disappeared from their dictionary, because in the 2026 Budget we allocated Rs. 25 billion for a transformative reform in education—to reduce the burden on parents and the hardships of children. Of that Rs. 25 billion, over Rs. 17 billion is for school infrastructure, over Rs. 6 billion for curriculum development, over Rs. 1 billion for human resource development, over Rs. 300 million to improve assessment and evaluation, and over Rs. 360 million for public awareness. No one can say we are attempting to privatize education when the Government is bearing the necessary costs to ease parents’ burdens. We have 20 National Colleges of Education. For 16 years they taught with the same syllabus. We must equip the teachers who pass out with new technology and knowledge. So, we trained over 132,000 teachers recently—developing human resources and funding physical resources. Since 2007 there had been no recruitment to the Education Administrative Service. We restarted recruitments in 2025. We are working to regularize principals’ appointments by March this year. We have developed physical and human resources and are preparing to introduce new knowledge into the school system. Yet, the Opposition Leader tried to smear all education reforms because of an error in one module out of 106. The moment that error occurred, the Ministry of Education and the Hon. Prime Minister intervened and sealed that module. Three Senior Additional Secretaries were appointed, a fact-finding committee was set up and reported within two days. Thereafter, under the leadership of retired Secretary Ranjith Ariyaratne, a preliminary inquiry was initiated through the National Institute of Education (NIE). The Ministry also lodged a complaint with the CID to determine if there was a conspiracy. Subsequently, the NIE’s Deputy Director General was sent on compulsory leave, and the English Department’s senior lecturers were interdicted. While government action was swift and comprehensive, the Opposition Leader rushed to declare that we had “sexualized” education. We tell him: oppose the Government if you must, but do not oppose the country. If you oppose the country, this Opposition becomes a curse to the nation. Due to the impact of the “Ditva” cyclone, losses of around USD 1.4 billion (about Rs. 1,200 billion) have been recorded. Housing suffered about USD 985 million in damage; buildings, USD 562 million; infrastructure, USD 1,735 million; and agricultural lands, USD 814 million. This is no simple loss and not one our economy can easily bear. At a time when we all must unite to rebuild, what has the Opposition done? They oppose wage increases for daily wage earners; they plot to block grants to families affected by “Ditva”; they resist transformative changes in education. Why? Because their jobs model was always “high post: security; low post: labourer”—we must turn that page and start a new chapter. We are doing everything possible to protect the small and medium industries affected by this disaster. We have released Rs. 25,000 million to banks at 5% interest.