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| Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Imthiaz Bakeer Markar
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Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Imthiaz Bakeer Markar called on the Government to be genuine and sincere in its efforts.
“The Government, however is saying one thing, but doing the opposite,” Markar said in Parliament. “Words do not matter. What matters are our intentions. Our intentions must be genuine and sincere,” he added.
Markar stressed that Sri Lanka must work towards implementing political reforms along with economic reforms. “The people who took to the streets in protest asked the traditional political system to be scrapped. They wanted this country to be rid of dirty politics. But what is happening now? While promises are being made the opposite of that is being done,” he pointed out, adding that while suggestions of all-party unity and working together are fine, such proposals must come from a place of sincerity.
Quoting Winston Churchill, Markar said a good crisis must not be allowed to go to waste. “Our efforts must not be to ensure Sri Lanka recovers to its state prior to the crisis but to ensure it is in a much better position than before,” he noted.
Markar made these remarks in Parliament yesterday and pointed out several instances where the Government has recently revealed its duplicity.
“The President while as Prime Minister assured the Prevention of Terrorism Act would be repealed. But now it is being misused to arrest and detain student activists. This is wrong. Earlier he praised the Galle Face protestors and said he would provide all necessary facilities to continue their peaceful protests claiming such protests should take place in a democracy.
“But just 24 hours after being appointed as President he used State terror to barbarically crack down on the protests. He speaks of democracy and uses the PTA to repress the people. This is evidence enough to prove the Government’s duplicity,” he said.
Markar in his speech also questioned if the Government is now attempting to remove the current Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe.
“During the speech by MP Vajira Abeywardena, a reasonable suspicion rose in my mind if this was an attempt to get rid of the Governor of the Central Bank and appoint Dinesh Weerakkody in his stead. When the Governor met with the Parliamentary MPs yesterday to update them on the current status, one particular Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP had accused him of being a dual citizen. These are early signs,” he said.
The SJB MP pointed out that if the Government is politicising the Central Bank and other independent institutions in this manner to achieve their narrow ends, such a process is neither fair nor just.
Calling the current Parliament a distortion, Markar said he believes the people must soon be given an opportunity to elect a Parliament of their choice. “A new Parliament with a people’s mandate must be elected within a short period of time,” he said.
