24 March 2017 09:24 am
Mr Rajapakshe who was speaking during a debate on several regulations in Parliament said looking into the crimes committed during the war time and bringing about reconciliation at the same time is not realistic at all. ‘Reconciliation and probing crimes which took place during the war is like railway tracks which never get together. Probing war time crimes will actually create tension among ethnic groups" he said.
He said the government had done what it could about the requests made by the European Union and its high time Sri Lanka got GSP plus.
Referring to the Hambantota land issue he said both the Opposition and the government should think of the reality without holding on to their respective ideologies on the land issue. "The opposition shouts that the government is giving away lands in Hambantota while the government is saying it has no option but to lease them out. However this Parliament should think of the future as there is going to be a scarcity of lands,'" he said adding that giving the lands on 99 year lease has to be re thought of as the country will regain the lands only after three generations have passed. " Will Sri Lanka be a superpower in 99 years time like China when it got back Hong Kong from UK?" he questioned.
Also the minister slammed the Transparency International for demanding to know the assets of the President and Prime Minister just after the right to information act came into effect. " Are the members of Transparency International ready to reveal the amount of dollars they receive from abroad ? " he questioned.
Responding to a question raised by JVP MP Vijitha Herath as to why the government agreed to set up hybrid courts in 2015, the Minister said the government had informed the UN that it was not agreeable to it during that time and did not keep quiet about it. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwadana)