Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran criticised a speech by Sri Lanka’s president, calling his remarks “an insult” and stating that the Tamil people have been fighting for self-determination and self-rule.

Speaking in Sri Lanka’s parliament earlier today, Sumanthiran said that Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s lengthy speech yesterday, where he doubled down on denying human rights abuses and claimed to “reject racism”, was insulting to the Tamil people.

He also criticised Rajapaksa’s remark that the Tamil people wanted “facilities”.

“They have not been fighting for facilities, but fighting for equal citizenship, their rights for self-determination, the right for self-rule, for shared powers of governance,” said Sumanthiran.

“For the President to reduce all of that to a level of saying that there are basic facilities that are necessary, and that is what we bring about in reconciliation… This also says much about the President’s understanding of this national problem,” he added.

In Rajapaksa’s lengthy address to Sri Lanka’s parliament yesterday, he called on “Members of Parliament representing the people of the North and East in this Parliament to set aside various political ideologies… and support the government’s efforts”.

“What does the President mean by ideology?” questioned Sumanthiran.

“I read the Sinhala and the Tamil translations, and it should have been translated as ‘Policies’. Our party policy is a mandate we have received from our people itself, and that is a consistent mandate that we have received and for which we serve our people. We do not listen to others who tell us how to serve our people. So, it does not lie in even the mouth of H.E the President to tell us to lay aside the mandate that our people have given us, and to join him in providing basic facilities.”

Though Rajapaksa’s speech was earmarked to be a landmark policy moment, Sumanthiran concluded that there “is nothing for the Parliament to be excited about and debate for another 2 days”.

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