State Minister of Samurdhi, Household Economy, Micro Finance, Self-Employment and Business Development Shehan Semasinghe said that the Government is obliged to listen to the Maha Sangha and the leaders of other religions and even committed to make any changes if necessary.
The State Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said the Government’s intentions are very clear and it wants to turn the country into a developed nation which will successfully move forward.
Therefore, if there are any areas which we have to improve, we will certainly look into it. He said if the Government is doing something wrong, a responsible Opposition should be in a position to point it out in a more productive manner.
However, the present Opposition doesn’t have any strength, unity or a capability to show that. Whatever is beneficial for the people but if it doesn’t politically benefit the Opposition, they make use of it to create a wrong impression and mislead the people.
Excerpts
Q: How do you view the false propaganda campaign carried out by the Opposition against the Government similar to what they did in 2015?
A: This will end up in failure. They don’t have any strategy and they are just based on day today news creating activities. If the Government is doing something wrong, a responsible Opposition should be in a position to point it out in a more productive manner. However, the present Opposition doesn’t have any strength, unity or a capability to show that.
I feel very sorry for the people of Sri Lanka because not even a single country has an irresponsible Opposition like this. Whatever is beneficial for the people but if it doesn’t politically benefit the Opposition, they make use of it to create a wrong impression and mislead the people.
Ultimately, the people are misled and they don’t get anything as their interests are not being looked after. The Opposition’s interest is only looked after. So, it is a very pathetic Opposition which we are having in Sri Lanka and it doesn’t whatsoever help take the country or not even the Opposition itself forward.
Q: The Opposition Parliamentarians staged a protest in Parliament following the Speaker’s announcement that SJB Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake’s parliamentary seat had fallen vacant. Your views?
A: That was a deliberate effort by them to cover up the mistake they made. Ranjan Ramanayake is convicted because of the act of the United National Party (UNP) and the SJB. They made use of Ranjan Ramanayake and certain things which he spoke were not legal.
They made use of Ramanayake to express the ideas of the then Opposition and the Government. It is not only the then Opposition, the Government which was in power in 2015 used Ranjan Ramanayake to destroy the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka.
In any country, if the people lose their faith in the judiciary and any Government attempts to intervene in the judicial system, that country will end up in a catastrophe. So, they were trying to destroy the independence of the judiciary which is one the most highly recognised and respected judiciaries in the world. They knew where they should hit.
Even after a lapse of eight months, the UNP has not appointed its National List MP.
The main Opposition SJB staged a protest in Parliament on 8 April over the loss of SJB MP Ranjan Ramanayake’s parliamentary seat. However, the previous night they had nominated Ajith Mannapperuma’s name to be gazetted to fill the vacancy left by Ranjan Ramanayake. However, they came to Parliament and made a big hue and cry against the removal of Ranjan Ramanayake’s parliamentary seat. Is this ethical? What they should have done is at least to delay the issue of the gazette notification for one or two days if they were very really concerned about fighting for Ranjan Ramanayake. Finally, what happened was Ranjan Ramanayake ended up with nobody and they brought a replacement within a day to fill the seat vacant by him.
Q: As reported by the media the Sri Lanka Podujana Perumana (SLPP) Parliamentary group has raised concern over recent remarks by SLPP MP S.B. Dissanayake on Education Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris when he called on the Chief Incumbent of the Getambe Rajapawanna Vihara Ven.Kappitiyagoda Siri Vimala Thera. Would you like to comment?
A: I think all members in the Government need to talk with responsibility especially as senior Ministers and senior politicians in Sri Lanka.
MP Dissanayake has also made an explanation as to how that discussion came up and we need not to be worried about that. The issue is when you make such a statement in front of the media, sometimes it may have a bad impact on the Government. I don’t see Prof. G.L. Peiris as a weak Education Minister. He is actually planning Sri Lanka for the future.
We have to help him to make that effort to every success. Despite all the issues faced by the world and Sri Lanka due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Education Ministry has done a tremendous job by holding the Year Five Scholarship examination, Advanced Level examination and G.C.E. Ordinary level examination and steps were also taken to reopen the schools.
That is one of the biggest tasks for any education Minister to go through. They have also looked into the issues faced by the teachers and non-academic staff. Despite the Covid-19 outbreak, the Government doesn’t have any breakdown in the higher education system. So, we don’t agree with the statement made by former Minister S.B. Dissanayake. I hope MP Dissanayake will not make such statements in the future.
Q: UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardana has said that businesses in the country have collapsed and all income sources of the people have been lost due to an inefficient economic policy of the Government. Would you like to comment on this?
A: That is an absurd statement. During the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, can you tell me a single businessman who didn’t have a business? It means the people have money. We took the agricultural policy forward. We have allowed the rural economy and local production to improve. We have given lots of opportunities to develop the businesses. I think Wajira Abeywardana doesn’t understand the economic crisis they dragged the country during their tenure in office and how to emerge from this crisis. He doesn’t understand that Covid-19 is still in the world and we are one of the best countries which have been able to manage it. I think he doesn’t understand these things. So, it is useless to talk to somebody who doesn’t have any understanding on the economy.
When you are in the Opposition and don’t have a reasonable number of seats in Parliament, you can always talk about anything you feel like.
Q: Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) Leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake has alleged that the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill presented in Parliament on April 9, would make the Port City an entirely separate state. Is there any truth in this allegation?
A: There wouldn’t have been a Port City for them to talk if former President Mahinda Rajapaksa didn’t initiate the Port City project. I can remember when the Port City was initiated, he said if we are to proceed with the project, we will have to import sand and mettle. Within 24 hours of gaining power in 2015, they said they will cancel the Port City project.
When it came to 2017, the then entire Ministers of the Yahapalana Government including Patali Champika Ranawaka and also Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe admitted the fact that the Port City is going to be an economic hub in Sri Lanka and South Asia. If it is to be an economic hub, there are certain rules and regulations which we have to amend as an investment friendly Port City.
So, we have presented the Commission Act to Parliament and there is enough space to debate it in Parliament. There is absolutely no intention whatsoever of making a separate state. We know who wanted to have a separate state in Sri Lanka. They themselves were leading a Government which led into a separate Eelam state in Sri Lanka.
We are not doing such things. There are no restrictions saying that only Chinese can come and invest. There are ample opportunities given for everybody to invest.
Unless you may not increase productivity and bring investments, no country can move forward. Now the line is clear. We are bringing investments so that productivity has grown. Now they are trying to hamper this so that we will take the economy backwards.
Q: Some of those including prominent bhikkhus who were at the forefront to bring the President and the Government to power say the Government has failed to meet the people’s expectations. Your comments?
A: Of course, there are certain people who talk against the Government. There is a certain category of the people in the country and whatever good move you made, they always look at it from a different perspective.
We are obliged to listen to the Maha Sangha and the leaders of other religions. The reason is we are working with good intention. Our intentions are very clear and we want to turn the country into a developed nation which will successfully move forward. If there are any areas which we have to improve, we will certainly look into it. So, we will always get advice and listen if necessary and we will even make changes.
Q: Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Senior Vice President Prof. Rohana Lakshman Piyadasa has said that the Party has decided to separately contest the upcoming Provincial Council Elections and form a new alliance led by the SLFP. Will this have any adverse effect on the SLPP?
A: We will not disturb their decision. They were the very first people even to join hands with the UNP. When the UNP illtreated them, they didn’t feel anything bad.
As a SLPP Government, we have given due recognition to them and they don’t have an issue. It is not a matter where they have an issue with policies or recognition. I think some of the SLFPers are now comfortable with the UNP. So, they want to have the same old scenario that they had few years back
Q: After the Easter Sunday Mass on April 4, Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said they will definitely have to take a decision if the Government fails to bring the masterminds behind 2019 Easter Sunday attacks to book before April 21. Would you like to comment on this?
A: The Cardinal is also under pressure to seek justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks. It is not only the Cardinal; the entire country wants to identify those who were the masterminds behind those multiple terror attacks
Actually, we are responsible for bringing justice to those who died and injured due to this particular incident. We are having a judicial process and it is looking into it. We cannot disturb or interfere with the judicial system the way we want. So, inquiries are being held. As a Government, we have supported those initiatives.