What I think will happen is that they'll just continue business as normal. At this moment in time, we still have the Sri Lankan gazettes, where people are specifically listed. There's always a potential, even for me, to be listed on that list in the future. However, you know, we're seeing things in Canada already with the Brampton memorial and things just generally happening with the genocide recognition here in Canada, so things will continue on.
Yes, I know that people are thinking it's kind of hopeful that there's a new government, that there's going to be change. We always have to remember that this party is an old party that's been around a while. It's a Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalist party that has always been anti-reconciliation and has in the past, especially in the 1990s, sought out to tarnish any peace talks.
I think they're just going to continue on as normal and are not going to stop. We're already seeing it here in Canada. There are gazette lists. Even individuals going over there doing humanitarian work are being subjected to inhumane treatment. As you can see, like I mentioned in my statement, there's new legislation that's come about with the new NGOs act over there and the Bureau of Rehabilitation Act. All that means is that anyone who speaks out anywhere in Sri Lanka or outside is subjected to detainment by the army. It has given this de facto authority to the army to arrest anyone if they speak out against the government.
I really don't believe there will be any change. There's been a long history with the JVP party of diminishing any dissent, and I don't believe anything different is going to happen. They're just going to continue business as normal in order to repress any dissent locally or globally.