Columns

• With SJB and several other parties likely to be absent, those who announced ambitious project  have to prove they can attract a large crowd
• RW back in courts sans dramatic scenes inside or outside the Court like in August
•  President Anura Kumara Dissanayake officially launches national operation aimed at eradicating the drug menace

A group of opposition parties that first came together to condemn the arrest of former President and United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in August, announced plans this week to hold a joint anti-government rally in Nugegoda on November 21. The rally will be titled Maha Jana Handa (The Voice of the People). The parties involved, which include the UNP, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led People’s Alliance (PA) and the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU), this week called on all those who are opposed to the “anti-democratic” actions of the JVP/NPP government to converge at Nugegoda on that date in a show of force.

The press conference held on Monday to announce the joint opposition rally was notable for the very noticeable absence of any representative from the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). While the party had been involved in early talks with the other opposition parties about forming a common front in the days following Mr. Wickremesinghe’s arrest and subsequent release on bail, the discussions have failed to progress, except for separate talks aimed at a potential reunification between the UNP and SJB. Other party leaders in attendance at Monday’s press conference expressed hope that the SJB will still take part in the upcoming rally.

Press conference to announce the joint opposition rally : SJB a very noticeable absence

There were two schools of thought within the SJB on whether to attend the rally or not, with some in the party being of the view that the SJB, as the main party in the opposition, needs to be in attendance, at least by sending one or more representatives. However, others argued that taking the same stage with political parties who were so politically and ideologically opposed to what the SJB stood for would alienate its core supporter base. In the end, the latter faction won out, with the party deciding not to attend.

For some time, since that August date, the SJB leader Sajith Premadasa was showing some reluctance in this exercise. Party insiders who were pressing him to join in thought Mr. Premadasa was concerned for one thing, that his leadership as the mainstream Opposition Leader in the country would get diluted. On the other, that SJB was better off with an identity of its own rather than one mixed with a cabal. In public he would say that they were supporting a joint opposition alliance “under the leadership of the SJB”. But since that pronoucement, the SJB went silent for a week and now come up with this decision.

“We have decided that we won’t be attending (the rally),” SJB Colombo District MP S.M. Marikkar says when asked about the SJB’s decision. “We have to maintain our identity. Though these other parties and we all oppose the government, our political ideologies are different and we need to maintain our own identity.”

Mr. Marikkar also ruled out the party sending any representatives to the rally as well, but said the SJB is still talking to opposition parties about ‘various matters’. “Nevertheless, this is a purely political event and no one from the SJB will be attending it”, which sounded odd as, if not a political event, what else is it.

It is not just the SJB has decided not to attend the rally. Both the Sarvajana Balaya led by MP Dilith Jayaweera and National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and former Minister Wimal Weerawansa have indicated they will also not be in attendance. The wheels of the joint opposition alliance were coming off already. Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Weerawansa left the possibility open for the NFF to still take part, stating it was in ongoing talks with the other opposition parties, but stressed the parties must first agree on what he called ‘key issues’ before taking the same stage. These included an alternate policy to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) directed economic programme followed by the government; the LGBTQ promotion and ‘cultural assault’ on local values; and the move to set up an Independent Prosecutor’s Office to “hunt war heroes” as part of the UN resolution to which the government agreed to in Geneva, Mr. Weerawansa claimed. “Without presenting a specific opinion regarding these decisive issues, how can we take the same stage and make a speech? That is the problem here. We are still talking about this problem and if we can arrive at a solution before the rally, we will be in attendance. Otherwise, we will not attend.”

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe made his second in-person appearance at the Fort Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday in connection with the case filed against him under the Public Property Act.

The Sarvajana Balaya meanwhile, has questioned as to who is really behind the efforts to set up a coalition of opposition parties. The party’s newly appointed Head of National Operations, former MP Madura Vithanage claimed there were elements within those parties who were relaying everything discussed during the meetings of the alliance of opposition parties back to the government; a incredible accusation to make. Addressing a media briefing, Mr. Vithanage said that his party had no interest in being part of a ‘so-called joint opposition’ that was functioning as a cat’s paw of the government. He also said any opposition group, while criticising the government, must also present their future plan on how they are going to rebuild the country.

Those who are organising the November 21 public rally however threw back the accusations asking; “who indeed, maybe, the government’s cats paw”, and insist that the concerns raised by other parties are unfounded.

There appears to be a misconception that the parties who are holding the rally on November 21 will form some sort of ‘joint opposition’ though this is not the case, People’s Alliance (PA) leader and former Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa insisted. “Some people say we will have to have a programme to present to the people, which is also wrong because we are not talking about a programme. What we are trying to do is to get as many opposition parties as possible together to protest against the government’s policies towards governance, the economy, and turning the country into a one-party state.”

Mr. Yapa said opposition parties only wanted to explain to the public that the NPP government has failed and they should take note of it. He also stressed that the parties have not put forward anyone who will act as the “leader” of their anti-government efforts. “We invited everyone so they can participate and air their views against the policy of the government. It is a completely non-violent, democratic exercise. We have no hidden agendas and there is no one behind the scenes,” the politician claimed.

The opposition parties have no intention of toppling the government, which would be an impossible feat given it has only been in power for a year and has an overwhelming parliamentary majority and the executive presidency, concedes Mr. Yapa. “We want to get as many opposition parties as possible to unite for a common cause. They can go their separate ways when an election comes. We are not objecting to that. But people expect us to unite as a front to oppose the unjustifiable decisions taken by the government.”

With the SJB and several other parties likely to be absent, the parties that announced the ambitious mass rally in Nugegoda now have a significant challenge on their hands to prove they can attract a large crowd even without the country’s main opposition party. The call was for all those who opposed the government to converge on Nugegoda on November 21. A small crowd will no doubt cause serious damage to their claim that a large segment of the population opposes the government. A large crowd however, can prove a point that smaller opposition parties can also draw on support even without the aid of the main opposition parties, and may even push these parties to reconsider their reluctance to enter a common programme. Whether the elements will be kind to the organisers given the recent weather conditions is too early to say.

RW back at Fort Magistrate’s Court

While these back-door discussions were in progress, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe made his second in-person appearance at the Fort Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday in connection with the case filed against him under the Public Property Act. The case was heard before Colombo Fort Magistrate Isuru Neththikumara.

While there was no repeat of the dramatic scenes inside or outside the Court like in August when the former President was first produced in Court, there were a large number of lawyers present to support him. A small crowd of his supporters too lined up outside the court to cheer him on. The former president is on bail after he was released under exceptional medical circumstances on 26 August by the former Fort Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura. She has since been appointed to the High Court.

The former president was accompanied this time by his wife, Mrs. Maithree  Wickramasinghe while  several politicians too were present in court to support him. The case before court is that President Wickremesinghe attended a private function at a British university honouring his wife, Prof. Wickramasinghe with public funds.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Dileepa Peiris  raised questions regarding the veracity of the medical reports submitted to court by counsel for Mr. Wickremesinghe based on which he was given bail.  He said the medical reports cannot be accepted as he was granted bail for having critical medical conditions and was kept in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in hospital. However, he was able to walk out of hospital within a few days which raises questions about the medical reports and hence the Magistrate should consider cancelling bail.

He also alleged that without any court order, the Defence had obtained medical reports endorsed by six specialist doctors via Deputy Director K.P.A. Wijesinghe of the National Hospital and submitted them to court. He questioned the accuracy of these reports.

Deputy Solicitor General Wasantha Perera presenting the progress report on the substantive case at hand, which is for using public funds for an alleged private trip, said that investigations are ongoing and that a statement needs to be obtained from Ms. Saroja Sirisena, who served as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the UK at the time of the presidential visit.

Senior State Counsel Samadari Piyasena and State Counsel Wishwa Wijesuriya made up the rest of the team representing the Attorney General’s Department.

Onetime Attorney General Tilak Marapana P.C.  and Mr. Anuja Premaratne P.C appeared for the former president. Mr. Ronald C. Perera, P.C., and  Prashanthi Mahindaratne made up his legal team.

His lawyers argued that the former president had undertaken the visit following an invitation from a British university, and that there is no clear separation between official and private visits made by a sitting President. Therefore, they argued, no misappropriation of state funds had occurred.

The progress report submitted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)   contained information on the findings made so far. The details are as listed below:-

1.    There were no documents available at the Europe and North America Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pertaining to the 2023 visit by the former president to the United Kingdom.

2.    In the communication issued by the Sri Lanka High Commission in London marked ‘urgent’, the visit of the former president on 2023.09.22-23 has been referred to as “Private visit to attend the graduation ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton.”

3.    The usual procedure is that at the end of an official overseas, a report is sent to the MFA via the Sri Lanka mission in the relevant country detailing the outcome of the visit, but there was no such report available.

4.    A sum of Rs. 13,370,350.82 out of Rs. 16,270,572.83 forwarded to the Foreign Ministry under Presidential Expenditure Head 001-01-01-0-1102 in relation to the UK visit has been spent. Furthermore, both the allocation amounting to Rs. 16,270,572.83 for the UK visit and Rs. 39,865.14 paid as casual allowance to Ms. Sandra Perera have been provided under Presidential Expenditure Head 001-01-01-0-1102.

5.    The expenses for the U.K. visit on the former President, First Lady Maithree Wickramasinghe and Mr. Wickremesinghe’s Private Secretary Ms. Sandra Perera had been borne by the allocations of the Presidential Secretariat.

6.    Monies allocated to the Presidential Secretariat must be utilised strictly  for official activities but Rs.13,370,301.82 had been spent from funds from the President’s allocations and Rs.3,274,301.39 from the allocations of the Sri Lanka Police and Sri Lanka Navy.

7.    There is video and photographic evidence of the visit by the former president to Cuba and the U.S.A. from 2023.09.13 to2023.09.22, but there is no such video or photographic evidence available of the U.K. visit.

 8.   It was estimated that a cost of GBP 40,445 would be needed for the U.K. visit from 2023.09.22-23 and the then Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake had authorised the payment by writing ‘pls. grant allocations’  and forwarded it to Senior Additional Secretary Sarath Kumara who in turn sent the request to the Chief Finance Officer at the Secretariat. Mr. Ekanayake said he had acted under Financial Regulations 136 (The Financial Regulations of the Government of Sri Lanka)  in his capacity as the Chief Accounting Officer and sanctioned the release of the Rs.16, 270,572.83 which is the equivalent in local currency to  GBP 44,445 at the time.

9.    Under the Financial Regulations, the Secretary to the President is entrusted with the sole responsibility for the allocation of funds for overseas visits by the President. Under F.R  it’s the Secretary to the President who can grant approval for the disbursement of funds and in his capacity as the  Accounting Officer, bears the ultimate responsibility.

10.   Monies from the annual budgetary allocations can only be released for official visits . No state funds can be used for private tours.

11. By stating ‘Pls. grant allocations and imprest”, the Secretary to the President has made the authorisation under F.R. 136.

The Court was informed that while the former President had submitted a document titled “Graduation luncheon invitation for Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of Sri Lanka and Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe, First Lady of Sri Lanka, an investigation was launched to gather information regarding this via the Europe and North America Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Sri Lanka High Commission in London.

The CID informed the court that there was no copy of the letter of invitation submitted by the former President available with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Sri Lanka High Commission in London had responded to the CID query by stating that “There is no record in the file to indicate that the invitation referred to in the Ministry letter under reference had been received by the High Commission.”

The CID informed court that the investigation into the case so far has established that state funds had been used for a private visit by the former president, the First Lady and staff members and this amounted to an offence under the Public Property Act.

The Court was informed that further investigations will be conducted into the authorisation of funds for the visit as well as from the relevant member of the staff of the Sri Lanka High Commission in London who served during the relevant period.

The Magistrate directed the CID to expedite the investigation and to produce before court any other suspects connected to this case.

He also instructed the CID to conduct an inquiry into whether the incidents that took place near the court premises on 22 August, the day Mr., Wickremesinghe was first produced in Court and later remanded, amounted to contempt of court, to identify the individuals responsible, and to report to the court at the next hearing on the actions taken against them.

The case was postponed till 28 January 2026.

SJB’s security concerns

Meanwhile, the SJB is facing challenges of its own. For now, one of the SJB’s  most pressing concerns following the recent assassination of Weligama Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Lasantha Wickramasekara has been the security of their politicians, especially MPs. The matter had received urgent priority after Kalutara District SJB MP Jagath Vithana revealed in Parliament that Police had identified him as being among persons facing death threats from underworld groups. Mr. Vithana was provided with two armed police officers last week following the revelations. Opposition parties, though, had appealed to the Speaker to ensure the security of all opposition MPs. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya and a group of senior police officers attended a meeting in Parliament on Friday that Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne had convened to discuss the matter. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, several party leaders in the opposition and a group of opposition MPs were among those in attendance. The meeting ended with an agreement to provide security for all opposition MPs who make a request subject to a threat assesment.

Nevertheless, the SJB plans to raise a privilege issue in Parliament regarding comments made by IGP Weerasooriya regarding MP Jagath Vithana. Speaking to the media regarding the alleged threats facing Mr. Vithana, the IGP claimed that the MP was facing threats not due to the nature of his politics, but due to his connections with several individuals connected to organised crime. That statement drew swift condemnation from the SJB. Party General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara said Mr. Vithana would raise a privilege issue in Parliament regarding IGP Weerasooriya’s comments with the aim of summoning him before Parliament’s Committee on Ethics & Privileges. Mr. Vithana told the media on Friday that IGP Weerasooriya had expressed his regret over the statement he made when he raised the matter during Friday’s meeting to discuss the security of opposition MPs.

The SJB still wanted the IGP summoned before the Ethics & Privileges Committee, Mr. Madduma Bandara the pary’s secretary said. “The IGP has a duty to safeguard the rule of law, yet IGP Weerasooriya is behaving like the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s (JVP) IGP and not the IGP of the Sri Lanka Police”. He drew parallels between Mr. Weerasooriya’s conduct and those of two former IGPs who lost their positions – Pujitha Jayasundara and Deshabandu Tennakoon. “He (Weerasooriya) is going down the same destructive path.”

Narcotics menace

Still on the subject of the narcotics menace sweeping the country, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Thursday (30) officially launched the Ratama Ekata (A Nation United) national operation aimed at eradicating the drug menace. The national operation will be the flagship project of President Dissanayake in the second year of his presidency.

During the official launch event held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, President Dissanayake spoke about the ‘terrible toll’ the drug menace is taking on children, youths and families. He observed that 64 per cent of those imprisoned in the country have been arrested for drug-related offences. “It is destroying the entire future of our youth. The age group most affected, the young generation between 18 and 24, is being dragged into ruin, with their hopes and futures shattered. Consequently, we cannot afford to remain passive observers,” he stressed.

The President emphasised the importance of uniting to act collectively to defeat the drug menace and urged both the sellers and those who are addicted to promptly disengage. He said the government is now establishing a strong public campaign. “This collective effort will undoubtedly dismantle this menace. Together, we will protect our future generations and society from this destructive force. Let us unite and act decisively,” he said.

The Ratama Ekata programme is not a political project begun with a change of government, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said explaining the nature of the national operation. He said the programme was launched following a “deep study” regarding the drug menace conducted over the past year. “We have identified that this is not something the police can do alone. It requires widespread public support, which is why the programme has brought everyone together.”

Police announced 971 arrests during the 24-hour period following the launch of the operation, with detention orders obtained for 22 of the arrested.

As part of the national operation, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission also introduced a 24-hour hotline, 1818, to enable the public to provide accurate information related to drug trafficking, distribution, or any suspicious activities associated with narcotics across the island. Minister Wijepala claimed the hotline has already received a large number of tips and information related to drug trafficking and underworld activities. Despite this claim, the public remained circumspect on proviiding information to the Police as they fear that the Police itself is inflitrated by the narcotic gangs and public information can revert to the dealers to the detriment of the informant’s life.

The government is also laying key emphasis on drug rehabilitation. Mr. Wijepala said the government aims to set up new drug rehabilitation centres throughout the country. Funding for these centres have been allocated in the upcoming 2026 Budget. During a TV talk show this week, a senior President’s Counsel argued for the death sentence to be implemented for those convicted of narcotics related offences. The Police DIG seated next to him, carefully choosing his words, echoed all but the same sentiments, while sociology professors argued against the death sentence saying statistics showed it was not a deterrent to committing narcotics related crimes.

While the Ratama Ekata will be the flagship programme of the government into next year, questions will inevitably be asked as to how realistic is its aim to “eradicate the drug menace.” The public may recall that another flagship programme “Clean Sri Lanka” was launched with similar fanfare on January 1 this year. That project, by its own mission statement, aims to “address a cleaner physical environment and a nationwide moral commitment to enhance ethical principles.” Exactly how much progress has been made in the past 10 months towards achieving this goal is up for debate. Likewise, while “eradicating the drug menace” is a worthy goal, it will be difficult to reach unless the overarching reasons behind it; most notably extreme poverty, lack of access to equal opportunities and political and police patronage for the industry are addressed.

Fight against bribery and corruption

The government’s fight against bribery and corruption though is also gaining further momentum following the decision to set up four new High Courts. The new courts will be set up with the aim of mitigating law’s delays, especially with regard to bribery and corruption cases, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath has said.

The new High Courts will be established at the official residences of former ministers, the minister said. Along with the official residence allocated to the newly established national operations centre of the Ratama Ekata, it means that five ministerial residences have now been taken over for state purposes, not for hotels or other commercial private sector purposes as earlier envisaged for the government to earn some revenue. Contrary to earlier reports, the recently vacated official residence of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Colombo’s Wijerama Road is not among those to be taken over to establish a new High Court.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) meanwhile, is also setting up branches in every district as part of its five-year action plan against bribery and corruption. These will specifically focus on eradicating bribery and corruption by public officials in the state sector, Minister Herath revealed. He pointed out that a number of public officials have been arrested in recent weeks on bribery and corruption charges. They included Excise officers, Chairpersons of Pradeshiya Sabhas and some senior government officials in government institutions. The arrests are all part of the government’s focus on bribery and corruption in the state sector, he pointed out. “We need to break from the old system of bribery and corruption in this sector. We will continue the operations if they don’t stop,” he noted.

On the tourism front, the government is gearing up for the Winter tourist season and has managed to secure agreements with five more international airlines to undertake direct flights to Sri Lanka. They include airlines from Russia, Romania, Belarus and Switzerland. The country has already recorded about 1.9 million tourist arrivals in 2025 and it is hoped that the new flights will enable those numbers to reach 2.5 million tourists by the end of the season, the Tourism minister said. He added the government has also gone beyond facilitating promotions for large, high-end hotels and travel agencies to also helping promote smaller hotels and travel agencies to attract more tourists.

It is clear that with a USD 100 million loan package from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – 70 million as a concessional loan and 30 million as a regular loan for tourism promotion, the government is looking forward to tourism as a major source of foreign exchange earnings for 2026.