Columns

By Sandun Jayawardana

Threats to national security, activities of organised criminal gangs and bringing long-delayed justice to past crimes were among the topics debated on Friday when the expenditure heads of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Security were taken up during the Committee Stage debate of Budget 2025.

Opening the day’s debate, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara pointed out that when it was in the opposition, the National People’s Power (NPP) often spoke of bringing former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran to Sri Lanka to face justice over the Central Bank bond scam once it comes to power. Now that it is in government though, the NPP is singing a different tune, he alleged. “You are having discussions with foreign nations to convince them to deport underworld figures operating from their countries. Why can’t you do the same with the Singapore government regarding Arjuna Mahendran? This was a promise you made to the country. Now, people are waiting for you to deliver,” the SJB MP told the government.  

He questioned the government regarding investigations into the murders of journalists Lasantha Wickrematunge, Prageeth Ekneligoda and Dharmaratnam Sivaram, rugby player Wasim Thajudeen, as well as the assault on media rights activist Poddala Jayantha. Mr Madduma Bandara also reminded that the NPP promised immediate action regarding investigations into the Easter Sunday attack. “The Catholics in the country are now watching to see if you will deliver justice. What we want is justice for the victims. We don’t know why justice is being delayed, however,” he further said.

Mr Madduma Bandara also claimed that a crisis has developed between the President, the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the National Police Commission (NPC). “The NPC was appointed to depoliticise the police and make it independent. However, we now have a situation where the President is complaining that the police can’t work because the Commission is not approving transfers. The Acting IGP meanwhile, is saying the Police Commission is behaving wrongly. How undemocratic is this?” he queried.

Rejecting Mr Madduma Bandara’s allegation, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala claimed that depoliticising the police was one of the first steps the government took upon coming to power. “The President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers have led by example in this matter. We have stopped the scheme where appointments were made based on political connections. We don’t appoint, transfer or terminate officers based on politics. Those matters are under the purview of the NPC,” the minister emphasised.

The government has reestablished the Financial Crimes Investigation Department (FCID) and laid the base for many structural changes within the police, he further added. Steps are also being taken to establish a Central Crime Investigation Bureau, with a Crime Investigation Bureau appointed in each province, he said, claiming that the government has recommenced all the investigations that were buried under the previous governments.

He noted that Rs. 152.8 million worth of property obtained through drug trafficking has been confiscated in 2025 while Rs. 188.3 million in fines has been imposed by courts. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) meanwhile, has arrested 680 suspects since September 21, 2024 and produced them in court.

The President’s Budget Speech made no mention of national security at all, Sarvajana Balaya Leader Dilith Jayaweera said. “A country’s national security is the equivalent of the head of a person. You can’t protect the body without protecting the head,” said Mr Jayaweera. He also raised concern regarding what he claimed was inexperience within the government in issues of national security. He said the government’s National Security Council (NSC), including senior military officers, are comprised of first-time members.

“When we are trying to make Sri Lanka a transshipment hub in South Asia, we need to understand that drug mafias operating in tribal areas outside the administrative control of the governments of those countries, will look to turn Sri Lanka into a hub for drug trafficking,” Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Hambantota District MP Namal Rajapaksa said. Sri Lanka has already become a big market for drugs, he added, claiming that the usage of drugs such as heroin and ‘Ice’ have gone up over the last 10 years. This in turn has created criminal gangs, who end up fighting each other for a place on the market. This obviously turns us into a drug trafficking hub for South Asia, he explained. “We need to face this. It will never bring justice to politicise a single incident that happened at the court house or somewhere else,” he remarked.

The defence sector has been allocated Rs. 434 billion under Budget 2025, which is a 3% increase from the previous year. A further Rs. 175 billion has been allocated to the Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, which includes the police, All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) Leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam pointed out.

“The budget also provides for a significant salary hike for military personnel, ranging from 27% to 33%. It shows that the government has prioritised the defence establishment to a point where they want to enhance the defence forces. This is in a scenario where there is no war. The war came to an end 16 years ago, but despite that, there is an intention
to enhance that sector,”
Mr Ponnambalam observed.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake also addressed Parliament in the evening during the debate. In his speech, the President acknowledged there is a certain amount of fear among the public due to the clashes between underworld groups, but these clashes have not led to a situation that affects the day-to-day lives of the general public, he insisted.

President Dissanayake stressed that his government won’t allow racism and extremism to rear its head. He added that his government’s stance is that the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) should be abolished. However, the country needed a legal framework to tackle organised crime and racist and extremist tendencies, he argued. “We raised black flags when the PTA was first introduced in 1978 and it has been our stance ever since. We are ready to abolish the PTA through a new legal framework that also allows us to tackle these issues. We have appointed a committee to study the matter,” Mr Dissanayake told the House.

Regarding organised criminal gang activity, the President said the gangs are not simply a collection of criminals. “They had been allowed to grow freely over a long period of time due to political patronage. If you told me a name of an organised criminal, I can tell you the politician associated with him. This level of political patronage emboldened these organised criminal gangs and it gradually led to a situation where even a minority of those within agencies tasked with eradicating organised crime began to develop ties with these gangs.”

He pointed to the incident where 73 T-56 assault rifles were stolen over a period of time from the armoury of an army camp. “These were government-owned weapons that were given to underworld gangs. That was the situation. 35 of those weapons have been recovered and 38 others are yet to be recovered. This happened before we came to power and there was an investigation then. However, it was ordered to be stopped,” he said.

President Dissanayake pledged that his government will confront and defeat these organised criminal groups.