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President Anura Kumara Dissanayake presenting Budget speech that lasted four hours and 20 minutes

• Allocations for president’s flagship programme “A Nation United National Operation”
• Opposition compares proposals with pledges the NPP made in its election manifesto, ‘A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life’
• SJB hierarchy left in the dark over Sajith’s visit to India

On Friday morning, ahead of the presentation of the National People’s Power (NPP’s) first full budget to Parliament, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake held a special Cabinet meeting to brief ministers on what was in store for the country. The meeting was called to get Cabinet approval for his Budget proposals. The mood was upbeat with the sense that the Government has delivered on its most important promises to the public by cutting waste and curbing corruption.

The President had stressed to his ministers that funding had been allocated to all major sectors the government wanted to improve, with tourism and investments being given top priority. He had instructed ministers to do their utmost to implement the necessary policies to meet the targets set out in the budget.

While it was the second budget President Dissanayake had presented to Parliament, Budget 2026 is actually his government’s first proper budget given that it was presented a year after the NPP came to power.

The President walked in to the Chamber at 1.30 p.m. carrying a simple brown hand-carrying folder and was greeted with applause by Government MPs.

Thus began the marathon speech lasting four hours and 20 minutes which started with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake highlighting progress achieved over the past year and presenting to the House, proposals aimed at further building on the country’s impressive economic recovery from the dark depths of bankruptcy in 2022.

Presenting the proposals of Budget 2026 on Friday afternoon in his capacity as Minister of Finance, President Dissanayake reminded the House, if reminding was at all necessary, of the historic mandate his government had received from the people and pointed out that it had taken many decisive steps to fulfil their aspirations over the past year. “The people expected a clear change from the nepotism that had existed until now and the corrupt political culture associated with it. Today, we can be proud of the transformative steps we have taken to preserve that trust. We have embarked on a continuous mission to modernise the economic and political structure, create people-centred governance, establish the rule of law and order, strengthen governance, and bring our economic achievements to the people living at the grassroots level,” he said.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa held talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar

Certain parts of the President’s speech felt like a run-through of a top of the pops ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation of victories he claimed his government had achieved over the course of the past year. He noted how the country had been able to record a high primary surplus, which had been achieved by strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation, digitising revenue administration, and rationalising government expenditure. While many have predicted that it would take until 2029 for the country’s economy to reach the pre-crisis level of 2019, Mr. Dissanayake expressed confidence that the economic situation that existed before the crisis will be reached by the end of 2025. Was it to say that the pre-crisis economy was therefore, alright?

He noted that the debt restructuring process is nearly complete and that this has further strengthened confidence among both domestic and international investors, also pointing to how the country’s sovereign ratings have been upgraded among international ratings agencies. Necessary economic reforms are being implemented under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Externded  Fund Facility (EFF), with the government having completed successive reviews, resulting in more funding being released due to it meeting the IMF’s targets and structural benchmarks. Social protections too have been strengthened, with the Aswesuma programme being expanded and reformed to ensure it supports the truly deserving low-income families. He also spoke of the government’s efforts to reform and modernise the public sector, adding that the salaries of public servants have already been increased in three phases following a commitment made in the government’s first budget.

He also spoke of the government’s efforts to encourage private sector investment. “We are creating an investor-friendly environment through measures taken to prevent corruption. Hateful propaganda was spread that our government could be hostile to the private sector, discourage investment, and seize property. These claims have now been proven to be baseless. We are in the process of strengthening the regulatory framework by enacting the necessary legal statutes to ensure investment protection and the ease of doing business,” he stated.

As expected, President Dissanayake spoke at length about the NPP government’s anti-corruption drive. The transparency of the system for declaring assets and earned wealth has been improved, he said. Steps have been taken to assure the budgetary and staff independence of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). Measures are being taken to introduce a digital asset declaration system by March 2026, while an expert committee is expected to be appointed to introduce a code of ethics for judicial officers in 2026. The government has also taken steps to remove unnecessary privileges that politicians and high-ranking officials had until now.

President Dissanayake also asserted that for the first time in history, they have placed before the country the second Budget of a government “that has not misused public funds or used improper privileges.”

The speech was peppered with Dissanayake’s characteristic lighthearted barbs directed towards those on the opposing side. Some of those quips evoked loud laughter on both sides of the aisle, yet, there were moments when the atmosphere became tense. When mentioning that Sri Lanka had advanced 15 places in the Global Democracy Index in 2025, the President observed how the opposition was attacking his government as a “constitutional dictatorship.”

“Where is the constitutional dictatorship when the country has jumped 15 places in the democracy index? Is implementing the law seen as a dictatorship?” he asked. When some in the opposition shouted back in response that the government was not holding the Provincial Council (PC) election, he claimed this was because, while a new electoral system had been introduced, there was no delimitation process to go with it. He blamed those in the opposition for failing to approve the delimitation process when they were in government, and pointed to how MP Faizer Musthapha, as the then Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government, voted against the Delimitation Commission report that he himself presented to the House. “Now they are asking us for elections,” the President said, insisting that the government could not legally hold the PC election under the present circumstances, leading to some angry responses from the opposition that the ruling party was ducking an election.

The President however, said he will be asking the Attorney General in January for the paths open to the government to hold the PC election. When opposition MPs suggested the government could hold the election under the old electoral system, the President reminded them that the new system was adopted after a lengthy process lasting some 15 years under various committees, and following consultations with former Election Commissioners, people’s representatives, political parties and election monitors. Legislation to introduce the new system was adopted after many called for the abolishing of the preferential voting system, he pointed out. Nevertheless, he said the government was prepared to hold the PC election and noted that Rs. 10 billion in funding had been allocated under Budget 2026 to hold this election.

In terms of notable funding allocations, the government is proposing to allocate Rs. 6.5 billion for the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ programme. The ambitious flagship project was announced last year and the allocation proposed for the programme under Budget 2026 is higher than the Rs. 5 billion funding allocation it received in Budget 2025. The initial enthusiasm exhibited when the’ Clean Sri Lanka’ programme was launched on January 1 this year appears to have been lost over the subsequent months. The government however, insists that its success cannot be measured over the course of mere months or even years. Explaining the continuation of the programme, the President reiterated that the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ programme ‘ is not a roadmap that will be completed in a day, a month, or a few years. It is a large-scale, non-stop programme that continues to move forward and must move forward, and new things must be added, and today we are making it a reality.”

There were large allocations for the recently announced “A Nation United National Operation” to eliminate the drug menace. The programme has been given top priority by the government and is shaping up to be President Dissanayake’s flagship project in the second year of his presidency. Funding allocations under the project includes Rs. 1.5 billion to implement drug control programmes and Rs. 2 billion to meet the urgent need for efficient prison operations, including expansion of identified prisons and relocation to recommended locations, improvement of prison infrastructure, referral of prisoners to community programmes and detention in open prisons, in accordance with the existing legal framework.

There were also indications in the budget proposals on the limits of government power and compromises it has had to make to fulfill certain pledges it had earlier made. The NPP government had been insisting for weeks that the daily wage of estate workers should be increased to Rs.1750, despite strong objections from plantation companies. In the budget proposals presented by President Dissanayake on Friday, it was proposed to increase the current minimum daily wage of estate workers from Rs. 1,350 to Rs. 1,550 from January 2026. It was disclosed that in addition to this wage, the government will pay Rs. 200 as a “daily attendance incentive,” with those funds coming at taxpayer expense. Rs. 5 billion will be allocated by the government for this purpose under Budget 2026.

Opposition reacts

The opposition contrasted Friday’s budget proposals with the pledges the NPP had made in its election manifesto, ‘A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life.’

“We thought the government would at least attempt to fulfil the promises it had made, but the reality is very different,” Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara said. He claimed there was ‘next to nothing’ in Budget 2026 regarding relief to farmers and fishermen, among other groups. There was also a lot of talk regarding education reforms the government plans to introduce but only a small percentage has been allocated to uplift education in the Budget, he further alleged. “This is a budget that has done nothing for the people. It has done nothing to address their problems,” the SJB General Secretary predictably said.

SJB Colombo District MP Harsha De Silva opened the debate on the Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill last morning. The Second Reading debate will continue till November 14 while the Third Reading (Committee Stage) of the Budget will be held for 17 days, from November 15 to December 5, including 3 Saturdays.

NPP saddled with drug scandal

Even as the government ‘Ratama Ekata’ or ‘A Nation United National Operation’ aimed at eradicating the drug menace gathers momentum, it has been saddled with an embarrassing scandal after the arrest of the husband of an NPP Peliyagoda Urban Councillor on charges of narcotics possession. The suspect, a school principal, was arrested after police recovered over 1kg of heroin buried in the back garden of a property belonging to him in Eppawala, Anuradhapura. His son had also been arrested earlier by police on charges of heroin possession. Police investigations conducted so far have revealed that the principal’s family is allegedly related to an organised crime and drug trafficker known to police and who is operating from overseas.

The arrests became national news when it was revealed that the arrested suspects are the husband and son of Peliyagoda NPP UC member Disna Niranjala Kumari. When questioned by police, she had claimed ignorance over the matter, saying she mostly resided in Peliyagoda due to her role as an urban councillor and only travelled to Anuradhapura to see her children. Nevertheless, with the scandal becoming increasingly embarrassing to both the NPP and the government, she stepped down from her position on Thursday. It was not clear if the party high command had instructed her to do so, or she had done so voluntarily.

A government source insisted that police investigations into the incident are continuing without any political interference and expressed confidence that the truth will be revealed once the probe is completed. He conceded that the arrests have opened the government up to intense scrutiny and criticism, especially coming only days after President Dissanayake himself officially launched the government’s anti-drug programme. “They (opposition) are attacking us over this incident because they have nothing else to hit us with. But the urban councillor, though she herself has not been charged with any crime, has already stepped down from her post and investigations are underway,” the source pointed out.

Sajith in India

In the midst of these happenings, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was a guest of the Indian government this week undertaking an official visit on an invitation extended by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India. While Premadasa’s visit included talks with a number of Indian political leaders, he seemed to have not met the Indian opposition leaders. He was routed to an interview with WION, a pro-government web outfit which is regularly ‘fed’ by the MEA to ask questions from political leaders in other countries to express their positions on issues relating especially to China, and in the case of Premadasa got him to commit on the 13th Amendment to which Premadasa said it was “crystal clear” that his party was committed to the 13th Amendment, that it is part of the Constitution and that the party had said so in their manifesto, their several interviews and their ‘social-contract with the people’.

However, Premadasa was astute enough not to fall for commenting on domestic political issues, especially attacking the NPP government. Accused by many in the opposition of ‘going slow’ on the NPP government, he opted to take the correct path of not attacking the government at home while on foreign soil. He also ducked the question on the land bridge between the two countries giving a long explanation on connectivity without a direct answer, and said, the Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters was a matter that needed to be dealt under international law, which would be seen approvingly by the northern electorate in Sri Lanka – not his hosts.

The timing of the MEA inviting the opposition leader has been studied by political analysts in Sri Lanka. When relations with the NPP was already ‘hot’, more than even ‘warm’, was there a sense of cooling off and a nudge to the Colombo government to show that India did not have all its eggs in one basket? Reports were aplenty that Premadasa was not over enthusiastic about a visit to India given that he hardly travels abroad in recent years. It was his choice of those accompanying him on this high-profile tour that has caused a great deal of heartburn within the ranks of his party, the SJB. Not a single SJB MP was included in his team for the visit.  Instead, the three men who accompanied Premadasa were Kusum Wijetilleke, his Adviser on Political Economy, Chamith Wijesundera, a SJB member of the Kotte UC who is also a special representative of the Opposition Leader and Lakshman Fonseka, a businessman with close ties to Premadasa who is known within and outside the SJB to have a strong influence over decision-making with the party.

Adding insult to injury for those in the SJB was the fact they were kept in the dark about the visit that the party leader was making to India. SJB MPs found out that their leader was going overseas when the management committee of the party, which includes members of its parliamentary group, met last week to discuss a date to hold a workshop to brief MPs on plans for the month-long budget debate. When a date was suggested, Premadasa casually informed them that he would not be available on the planned day as he was going overseas but the MPs were still not informed that he was undertaking an official visit to India.

Once details emerged about those he had chosen as members of his delegation, many of the SJB MPs were heard speaking in hushed voices of the poor choice of delegates, none of whom were MPs, and had no experience in foreign affairs or politics.  A senior SJB MP, speaking on condition of anonymity, when queried about the matter said,” Many of the seniors in the party are upset that instead of them, a team of amateurs were taken by the leader on an important tour.”

More than a few eyebrows had also been raised by those in the Indian High Commission in Colombo when the names of those accompanying Premadasa were forwarded to clear the formalities with one commenting that a golden opportunity to rub shoulders and make contact with those at the highest levels in the Indian government was being wasted.

One sticking point between Premadasa and some in the SJB hierarchy has been his refusal to take part in the November 21 joint opposition meeting to be held at Nugegoda.  When he had been asked at the group meeting, Premadasa had rejected a request for him to attend and also refused to send a representative to address the meeting.

His decision to stay away from the November 21 rally however seems to have pleased  President Dissanayake. During the Budget presentation, the President took a minute to thank the Opposition Leader for choosing not to join. ”I know the Opposition Leader has stood firm on this. He doesn’t even look at the corrupt. I thank him for that,” the President said. Whether Premadasa will take this as a compliment or a back-handed compliment is not known, but when a President compliments the Opposition Leader on a political issue, it doesn’t seem quite right.

So that was why during the television interview with WION’s Sidhant Sibal, Premadasa avoided giving a direct reply to why he was opting out of attending the Nugegoda joint opposition rally, and instead choosing to say,’ “What happens in our country as far as governance and opposition politics is concerned, I don’t think it is right for me to come to India and have discussion on those things” adding that as a proactive opposition, his party has addressed the shortcomings of the present policies that are anti-people and they would ‘mobilise the people’s forces at the right time.”

Mr. Premadasa has been hesitant to embrace the enthusiasm of some within the SJB for a possible rapprochement with the United National Party (UNP) under its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.  Mr. Kusum Wijetilleke who accompanied Premadasa is a well-known critique of the UNP leader and some in the SJB had been particularly critical of young Wijetilleke’s comments on the social media platform X following the arrest of the former president in August, at a time when most in the SJB put aside political differences and came out in a show of support for Wickremesinghe.

Generally, Premadasa struck all the right chords hailing the “special relationship” between the two countries, advocated the expansion of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and backed India’s bid for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

He held talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, where they focused on several key factors, including the India-Sri Lanka partnership, regional stability, connectivity, and mutual prosperity. He also met with the Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman,  Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Om Birla and Minister of Health and Family Welfare of India, Jagat Prakash Nadda.

During the meeting with the Indian Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Premadasa had requested India’s assistance to address the shortage of essential medicines in the country. “  I also took the opportunity to express my gratitude to the Government of India for its invaluable contribution to Sri Lanka’s health sector through the ‘1990 Suwa Seriya’ ambulance service, donated by India in 2016, which continues to play a vital role in strengthening the island’s emergency medical response capacity,” Premadasa wrote in an Instagram post after the meeting.

The SJB leader also met National Security Advisor of India Ajit Doval.”  The discussion focused on enhancing cooperation in areas such as maritime connectivity, capacity building, and advanced technology, while also strengthening regional partnerships among South Asian nations,” Premadasa said after the meeting with Doval.

Mr.Premadasa also visited the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Pusa of New Delhi, and met Dr. Shashi Tharoor, still with the Congress Party, in New Delhi and delivered the keynote address at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in New Delhi on Indo-Lanka bilateral relations.

After his address, among those who raised a question on 13 A was Lt. Gen.(Retd.) Ashok Mehta who served as General Officer Commanding, Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka who said that while numerous  joint India- Sri Lankan statements are made on full implementation of the 13A, its implementation has made little headway.

Mr.Premadasa said he had not signed up to any of the past statements on its implementation, but said the SJB vehemently believes in its full implementation and also called for the Provincial Councils elections to be held without delay.

Opposition rally hit by disunity

While the opposition will be taking part in the parliamentary debate on Budget 2026, some of these political parties are also busy organising their joint anti-government public rally in Nugegoda on November 21. Preparations for the rally have been hit by disunity among opposition parties, with the main opposition SJB opting to stay away. Nevertheless, parties such as the UNP, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led People’s Alliance (PA) have continued with their efforts at organising the rally while also reaching out to other parties in attempts to convince them to attend.

The organisers had earlier stated that none of the former presidents will be in attendance at the rally. UNP Leader and former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, though, is heavily involved in overseeing organising efforts. A meeting to discuss preparations for the rally from the UNP side was held at Wickremesinghe’s office on Flower Road in Colombo on Thursday. Aside from Wickremesinghe, others in attendance included UNP Chairman Wajira Abeywardana, National Organiser Sagala Ratnayake and former MP Saman Rathnapriya.

FM in Saudi Arabia

With the opposition rallying their troops, government business continued. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism, Vijitha Herath who left for Saudi Arabia on an official visit to Riyadh from November 8 to 11, 2025, to attend the 26th Session of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) will hold talks with senior officials there.

During the visit, Minister Herath will participate in high-level sessions of the UNWTO and hold bilateral meetings with counterparts from several member states. Sri Lanka is a founding member of the UNWTO, established in 1975.

Minister Herath said that during discussions with his counterparts, he hopes to finalise  several MOUs to increase direct air links with Sri Lanka in a bid to boost the tourism sector.

He will also hand over a letter of invitation from Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya extending an invitation to the ruler and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia  Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, to Sri Lanka with a delegation as the two countries mark 50 years of diplomatic relations.

Minister Herath will also meet with business sector representatives in Riyadh as well as Sri Lankans domiciled there as well as representatives of the Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Group.