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•  Deputy Secretary General’s suspension triggers crisis; complaint to CIABOC details misconduct claims against Speaker
• President’s Independence Day message draws fire after instructions to omit war heroes
• Tilvin–Jaishankar talks in New Delhi: JVP General Secretary’s tour signals political shift, including visit to Amul Milk once opposed by party

By our Political Desk

It has been just over 14 months since the Tenth Parliament of Sri Lanka met for its first sitting on November 21, 2024. Gampaha District National People’s Power (NPP) MP Asoka Sapumal Ranwala was unanimously appointed Speaker of the new Parliament during that inaugural session. He would serve just 22 days before being forced to resign in disgrace after questions were raised regarding the authenticity of his educational qualifications.

Mr Ranwala’s term was the shortest tenure of a House Speaker in the country’s parliamentary history, probably in the entire Commonwealth and possibly in the world. For a country quite accustomed to creating world records, good and bad, this will clearly fall into the second category. The NPP staunchly backed Mr Ranwala at the time, insisting that he was only stepping down because he had difficulty obtaining the certificate to confirm the doctorate he had purportedly obtained from a Japanese university. They insisted he would obtain the certificate and present it to the country in the near future. Well over a year later, no one has seen such a certificate, and the only recent news about Mr Ranwala has been that he was involved in a vehicle accident where several persons, including a child, suffered injuries. Government leaders strain to defend him, saying, “But he is a good man.”

JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva holding talks with India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi

After the debacle with Mr Ranwala, the NPP would have hoped the election of Polonnaruwa District NPP MP Jagath Wickramaratne as Speaker on December 17, 2024, would herald a scandal-free tenure of calm and stability for the remainder of this Parliament’s term. Events over the past year have shown just the opposite.

While he was a first-time MP like Mr Ranwala and had no prior experience in elected office, there were no questions regarding the educational qualifications of Speaker Wickramaratne, a medical doctor by profession. The government may also have hoped that his experience as a hospital administrator would help Dr Wickramaratne in the difficult task of managing an institution such as Parliament.

Whatever hopes the government may have had, Dr Wickramaratne’s tenure over the past year has been tumultuous, to say the least. He has come under repeated criticism from opposition lawmakers who claim he is often partial to those on the government side. Such accusations, of course, are not new. The Speaker usually comes from the party in power, and it is common for those in the opposition to feel he is being partial towards those of his own side in certain instances. Speaker Wickramaratne, though, has been accused by opposition MPs of adopting an inflexible attitude when it comes to the opposition in general, often shutting them up and shutting them down, refusing to give them the floor when they rise to raise a point of order. Some have also claimed that the Speaker looks to Leader of the House Bimal Rathnayake for ‘instructions’ when managing difficult situations in the House. It is no secret that the main opposition, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), and some other opposition parties have been mulling a no-confidence motion against Speaker Wickramaratne for some time. Nevertheless, they insist that there are currently no plans to submit such a motion against the Speaker. The opposition had earlier embarked on plans to submit a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya in her capacity as education minister following the chaotic roll-out of the government’s controversial education reforms, but that motion is now dead in the water.

New Auditor General Samudika Jayaratne: First woman to be appointed to the post

Controversies surrounding Speaker Wickramaratne, however, have recently taken a new turn; this time concerning the move to suspend Parliament’s Deputy Secretary General and Chief of Staff Chaminda Kularatne. Mr Kularatne remains suspended with effect from January 23 after a preliminary inquiry. Conducted on the instructions of the Speaker by former administrative service official S.K. Liyanage, the inquiry determined that Mr Kularatne did not possess the number of years of experience required as a permanent staff member in the public service to be appointed to the post of Deputy Secretary General and Chief of Staff of Parliament.

The suspension letter issued to Mr Kularatne accused him of attempting to mislead parliamentary officials by providing false information regarding his prior service history to secure an appointment subject to a one-year probation period, causing financial loss to the government by obtaining a salary a step higher than the prescribed level for the post, and acting in violation of the procedural rules of the Public Service Commission.

Mr Kularatne, however, had stated during the inquiry that he was being targeted by Speaker Wickramaratne owing to a personal disagreement he had with him. Earlier this week, he also lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) against the Speaker.

The decision to suspend Mr Kularatne was taken by the Parliament Staff Advisory Committee (SAC) chaired by Speaker Wickramaratne. It also includes the Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, the Finance Minister or his representative, and the Secretary General of Parliament.

The Sunday Times reported earlier that some SAC members had raised concerns that Mr Kularatne had been suspended without calling for an explanation from him regarding the charges against him. Chief Opposition Whip Gayantha Karunathilaka, who had represented the opposition leader at the SAC meeting where the decision to suspend Mr Kularatne was taken, confirmed in Parliament on Tuesday that he had repeatedly urged the Speaker to give an opportunity to Mr Kularatne to answer the charges made against him, especially considering that he had stated during the inquiry that he was being targeted owing to a personal disagreement he had with the Speaker.

Mr Kularatne’s suspension was one of the first issues raised by opposition MPs when Parliament convened on Tuesday for its first sitting day in February. SJB General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara told the House that he had never seen a prior instance where there had been a direct conflict between the Speaker and Parliament’s Board of Secretaries. “Today, a secretary has been suspended, and he too has gone and filed a complaint against the Speaker with the Bribery Commission. We have never seen such a thing in the history of this Parliament. This is a very bad state of affairs,” Mr Maddumabandara said, adding that he was not accusing the Speaker of wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the MP said he was unsure how Parliament can move forward in a situation where there appears to be open conflict between the Speaker and the senior-most officials of Parliament. He called for an independent inquiry to be held concerning Mr Kularatne and for an opportunity to be given to him to answer the charges against him.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa also weighed in, urging the Speaker to “take a step back” and follow established procedure regarding any inquiry into the Deputy Secretary General, while Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam said the incident seems to be sending a message to Parliament officials to either obey the Speaker unquestioningly or be prepared to be sent home without having even a charge sheet issued against them. “This is a very dangerous situation. Parliament is supposed to be the foremost bastion of democracy in the country. The Speaker’s conduct raises an extremely bad precedent,” he added.

The government’s position, as explained by Chief Government Whip Dr Nalinda Jayatissa, is that the decision to suspend Mr Kularatne was not one solely taken by the Speaker but by the SAC acting as a collective body. He also noted that the former official who conducted the inquiry into the Deputy Secretary General was appointed to the post in August last year and questioned why the opposition leader or his representative, who would have been at SAC meetings, had not raised concerns regarding the official over the past five months. “There is no point in raising concerns now once the report has been submitted,” Dr Jayatissa said, adding that, contrary to the opposition’s claims, Mr Kularatne had been given the opportunity to answer charges against him and that he also has a further opportunity to answer the charges at a formal inquiry that is scheduled to be held.

Word in the Parliament lobby is that Mr Kularatne intends to file a writ petition in the Court of Appeal next week against his suspension and challenge the inquiry conducted against him.

The Deputy Secretary General’s complaint against the Speaker, which has been submitted to the CIABOC, contains a series of allegations against Dr Wickramaratne. In his complaint, seen by us, Mr Kularatne states that in addition to his roles as Deputy Secretary General and Chief of Staff, he also served as one of Parliament’s Information Officers appointed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and as the head of the Internal Affairs Unit established under the Anti-Corruption Act. He claims that during his tenure, he repeatedly drew the attention of Speaker Wickramaratne to “various illegal and corrupt activities” being committed by allegedly abusing his official power and that this is what earned him the displeasure of the Speaker.

Mr Kularatne also claims that when civil society activists requested information under the RTI Act, he had recommended, as the Information Officer, that such information should be disclosed. He adds that it is his belief that for the above reasons and due to a “personal incident” that occurred in the Speaker’s dining room on June 18, 2025, the Speaker harboured malice towards him and alleges that his suspension was orchestrated as a consequence of this.

Mr Kularatne’s complaint to the CIABOC against Speaker Wickramaratne includes allegations with regard to the misuse of official vehicles and fuel allowances, misusing parliamentary media equipment, misuse of multiple official residences and allegations that he obstructed the release of information under the RTI Act that would have exposed illegal and corrupt activities. The CIABOC has now decided to commence an inquiry into the complaint.

Independence Day controversy

Days before the 78th Independence Day celebrations were to get underway, those assigned with giving the live commentary of the proceedings were reportedly informed that there were some references they should avoid during the live feed of the proceedings. This included reference to members of the tri-forces as ‘Rana Viruwo’ (war heroes) but not as ‘soldiers’, and they were not to make any references to the end of the 30-year separatist war in 2009. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said in his address to the nation from the podium at Independence Square in Colombo on Wednesday morning, “There are aspects of our recent history that must be discarded.” Maybe the reference to the sacrifices made by thousands of soldiers and their families fighting a brutal separatist war for nearly three decades is part of the country’s history that he felt was too unimportant to be mentioned. That the emphasis was on “recent history” begs the question as to how the president interprets ‘recent history. Does ‘recent history’ cover the 1971 insurrection by the Janath Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the current leader of which is the President, or does ‘recent history’ mean the 1988-1990 era when a second uprising by the JVP cost thousands of lives, or does ‘recent history’ include the 2009 defeat of the LTTE by the members of the country’s armed forces, bringing to an end a 30-year-old separatist war?

‘Ending racism and extremism’ has been a catchphrase the President has echoed several times in the past year. In his speech on Independence Day, he repeated his commitment to end divisions in the country and forge a united Sri Lanka. “When we are divided, our strength weakens. Hatred, anger and conflict diminish our collective power. Sri Lanka is a country of many religions, cultures, beliefs and identities. These differences can be used to create conflict or wielded as weapons against one another, but doing so only weakens us. Our objective is to respect these differences, recognise the identities of all communities and build a new transformative era as one Sri Lankan nation,” he said.

He also spoke on the “two unpleasant words” in the country’s vocabulary – racism and extremism. “We believe that racism and extremism only lead to the self-destruction of our own strengths. Therefore, I wish to clearly state to the people of this country that we will not allow division, racism, or extremism and that national unity will be established as the foremost strength in rebuilding Sri Lanka,” he added.

He underscored that with economic freedom for the people, true freedom is measured by the strength of an economy.

“As an economy’s success is not measured by data alone. The benefits of economic achievements must reach the people who form the foundation of that prosperity. If the lives of citizens are not improved, if livelihoods are not made easier and if people are not granted the freedom and dignity to live, then even the strongest economic data becomes meaningless. Therefore, the most significant economic milestone is ensuring that the gains at the top levels of the economy directly convert into improved living standards for every citizen. The vision for a renewed Sri Lanka is one where the benefits of economic growth flow to all people, creating a nation in which prosperity is shared equitably and inclusively,” he said.

At last, an AG

One matter that saw resolution through consensus this week was the finalisation of the appointment of a new Auditor General. The Constitutional Council, which met on Tuesday, unanimously agreed to confirm Samudika Jayaratne as the country’s 42nd Auditor General of Sri Lanka. She becomes the first woman to hold the post.

The appointment came days after the Chief Prelates of the four main Buddhist Chapters stepped in to caution President Dissanayake against making a political appointment to the post. While the Chief Prelates of the Malwathu and Asgiriya Chapters, and the Amarapura and Ramanna Nikayas, in a letter addressed to the President, took the unusual step of naming Dharmapala Gammanpila, a senior officer with extensive experience within the Auditor General’s Department, as the ideal candidate for the vacant post, this suggestion was disregarded and Ms Jayaratne’s name was instead forwarded to the CC. She too is a career officer in the National Audit Office and was serving in a senior position.

However, the letter from the senior prelates seems to have forced the President’s hand to appoint a person from within the Department and give up on several attempts to bring a person from outside the service to the post of AG. The tug-of-war over the appointment of a new AG between the President and the CC led to the post being vacant for nearly ten months, and the end results showed that there are limitations to how far an executive president can go even when his party commands a two-thirds majority in the House.

Tilvin’s India visit

Meanwhile, on the foreign affairs front, it’s becoming clear that the JVP is keen to strengthen its ties with India, and toward this end, the party’s General Secretary, Tilvin Silva, accompanied by a group of party members, accepted an invitation from the Government of India for a weeklong visit. Accompanying Mr Silva are NPP MPs Kitnan Selvaraj and Karunananthan Ilankumaran, as well as General Secretary of the Inter-Company Employees’ Union Janaka Adikari and member of the JVP International Committee, Kalpana Madhubashini. The visit is being undertaken as part of the visitor programme of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

The visit so far has included talks with India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in the Indian capital of New Delhi. The two sides discussed “strengthening bilateral ties, exploring growth opportunities, and advancing social welfare initiatives”.

In a post on X after the meeting, Mr Jaishankar said, “A warm interaction with Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) General Secretary Tilvin Silva and his delegation from Sri Lanka. Discussed further strengthening our deep bonds. Spoke about growth opportunities and social welfare initiatives. India has stood by Sri Lanka during the economic crisis and recently, in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah. India will always remain a true and trusted partner for Sri Lanka.”

From New Delhi, the JVP delegation will visit the states of Gujarat and Kerala and is expected to hold discussions with the Chief Ministers of both states.

Interestingly, the JVP delegation will also undertake a tour of India’s Amul Milk Cooperative, even though the NPP government scrapped a joint agreement between the Indian enterprise and the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB) and Milco Ltd after taking office. In July 2024, the former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and former Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera jointly submitted a Cabinet paper proposing to lease farms owned by Milco and NLDB to India’s Amul Milk Cooperative for a period of 99 years. The venture was to see Amul holding a 52% stake and Sri Lankan stakeholders owning 48%, under the terms of the 99-year lease agreement. However, this plan was scrapped by the NPP as a part of its election pledge to do so. Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath said that the government does not plan to renew the agreement with Amul and that both the NLDB and Milco are running at a profit and are on a steady footing with the changes introduced by the government.

While the JVP delegation is visiting India, a delegation led by Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat and the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi concluded their visit to Sri Lanka yesterday (7). The delegation accompanied the Sacred Devnimori Relics of Lord Buddha from India to Sri Lanka for their first international exposition, currently underway at the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo. During the visit, the dignitaries called on Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya in Parliament and thanked her for the warm reception to the sacred relics. The delegation also met Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, Industry Minister Sunil Handunneththi and Buddhasasana Minister Hiniduma Sunil Senevi. A delegation led by Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai C. Patel and Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein will arrive in Sri Lanka next week to mark the conclusion of the exposition and the return of the Sacred Devnimori Relics to India.

Development officers end protest

There was also a victory of sorts for the government this week when development officers, who had been on a hunger strike for nine days outside the Presidential Secretariat, ended their protest following a meeting with President Dissanayake.

The fast was launched by development officers currently attached to schools in opposition to a competitive examination scheduled to recruit 23,000 personnel into the teaching service. The protesters pointed out that, as graduates, they had been recruited as development officers and assigned to schools, where they had served as teachers for several years. They argued that requiring them to sit an exam after such service was unjust.

The government, though, maintained that recruitment to any state profession must follow established procedures and cannot be done externally. A court order also exists regarding this matter, it was further pointed out. These graduates, recruited during the Yahapalana administration, were attached to schools during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure, with the majority performing teaching duties.

Protesters had initially vowed to continue until a decision was made in their favour. A number of opposition politicians, including Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, visited the site of the protest and pledged to resolve the issue under a future government under them.

Government sources said that during Tuesday’s meeting, the President told the development officers that the government’s aim is to protect the professional dignity and honour of all citizens. He had stated that the government intends to absorb experienced graduates into the teaching service and urged them to sit the exam in accordance with the Teacher Service Minute. He further noted that even if they failed the exam, they could remain in schools as development officers and continue their careers within the public service by fulfilling the necessary requirements. Following these assurances, the protesters reached an agreement and ended their strike that same day.

No sooner had the development officers ended their protest and gone home than a new group arrived to set up camp outside the President’s office to protest over their own issues and demand solutions. These were fishermen who are demanding that the government lift the ban on the use of tractor-mounted winches for Madel (seine nets). The Satyagraha campaign launched by these fishermen entered its third day yesterday. There was no word as to which protesting group had booked the spot after the fishermen left, if they left at all.