News
GL tears into Ranil saying that under his leadership people have suffered immensely
“…. led an arrogant, insensitive, and thoughtless government”
By Saman Indrajith
The only people who should vote for Ranil Wickremesinghe in the presidential election on 21 September are those who wish to endure needless suffering for another five years, SJB MP Prof. G. L. Peiris has said in a televised interview.
Prof. Peiris said that under Wickremesinghe’s leadership, Sri Lankans had suffered immensely and that he had done nothing to build a resilient, strong economy capable of facing future challenges.
“He speaks of ‘continuity’, but the only continuity you experience is continued suffering. Over the past two years, poverty has doubled, we now have a 27 percent child malnutrition rate, around 500,000 children have dropped out of school, 1.1 million households have had their electricity cut off, and approximately 250,000 small and medium enterprises have collapsed. This is unprecedented. We have an arrogant, insensitive, and thoughtless government,” he said.
Prof. Peiris remarked that the standard of living had drastically declined during the past two years, making claims of economic improvement under Wickremesinghe baseless.
He noted that a large number of Sri SLPP MPs had joined Wickremesinghe, putting their political futures at risk. “I don’t think anyone seriously believes that Wickremesinghe will win the presidential election on 21 September. What has happened to the SLPP MPs who joined him?” he asked.
Prof. Peiris added that he had been campaigning in the north for the past few weeks, and the voters there were keen to support Premadasa. He mentioned that northern voters as in the rest of the country were concerned about the rule of law, the collapse of the health and education systems, and restrictions on freedom of expression.
“Additionally, the sheer incompetence of this government is shocking. Look at the chaos they’ve caused with the issuance of passports. They are unable to provide the most basic services. The Constitution guarantees the freedom of movement and the right to choose one’s residence within Sri Lanka, as well as the right to return to the country. Whether one uses one’s passport for foreign travel is not the government’s concern. This is a government incapable of guaranteeing basic needs, but Wickremesinghe’s supporters attempt to portray him as a genius,” he said.
Prof. Peiris also criticised the government’s race to embezzle as much money as possible within the limited time available to ministers, citing the VFS scam, which cost the country billions.
“We can make noticeable changes in six months if we simply get the basics right. With the correct policies and efforts to curb corruption, we will see positive results in just a few months,” he said.
He noted that while professionals were forced to pay exorbitant taxes, many billionaires paid none at all. “Tax breaks have been given to these billionaires, and the state has lost billions in revenue. When offering tax breaks, we must ensure that they lead to increased economic activity that offsets the losses. There have been instances where we questioned officials about the rationale behind certain tax breaks, and they had no idea what the expected outcomes were. Clearly, these tax breaks were intended to benefit friends of politicians,” he added.
COPF final report on USD 2.5 mn cyber fraud recommends action against all responsible
The US$2.5 million loss incurred during Sri Lanka’s foreign debt repayment to Australia was a clear case of a cybercrime and theft, Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva told Parliament yesterday.
Presenting the COPF final report on the cyber fraud, Dr. de Silva said the incident amounted to a serious financial crime and called for a comprehensive investigation, by law enforcement authorities, to identify and prosecute all those responsible.
The report revealed serious governance, procedural and operational failures that enabled the fraudulent transfer of public funds, while recommending sweeping reforms to strengthen cybersecurity, financial controls and public debt management systems.
According to the report, officials of the Treasury and the Central Bank bore responsibility for governance lapses that contributed to the failures. It also highlighted the fact that the Ministry of Finance was operating an outdated Microsoft Exchange Server after security support had ended, while basic safeguards, such as multi-factor authentication, had not been implemented.
The COPF said suspicious payment instructions linked to debt repayments involving India, the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium had also been detected, preventing further losses. However, the US$ 2.5 million fraud materialised only in the repayment transaction involving Australia.
The report has noted that officials had failed to verify lender email domains, relied on unverified email communications and lacked adequate internal controls, allowing the fraud to continue for months.
Although the investigation uncovered system-wide weaknesses across several institutions, only four mid-level Finance Ministry officials had been suspended so far, the report said.
The COPF has recommended a special audit of the foreign debt repayment process, strengthened cybersecurity measures across state institutions, updated financial regulations and improvements to public debt management systems.
by Saman Indrajith
News
Opposition signs no-confidence motion against Justice Minister for dereliction of duty over Negombo Prison deaths
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, together with Opposition MPs, yesterday signed a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) in Parliament against Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara.The move comes in response to the unrest at the Negombo Prison, where both prison officers and inmates were killed.
Opposition members said the Minister had failed to fulfill his responsibility and accountability regarding their safety.According to the Opposition group, the NCM seeks to hold the Minister directly accountable for lapses in ensuring protection within the prison system.
The Attorney General yesterday informed the Supreme Court that the government has decided to review the legality of agreements entered into by the previous administration to hand over the country’s electronic visa issuance operations to private companies.
Additional Solicitor General Viveka Siriwardena, appearing for the Attorney General, made the submission when the Supreme Court took up the fundamental rights petitions filed by former MPs President’s Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran, Patali Champika Ranawaka, and Rauff Hakeem, challenging the previous Cabinet’s decision to outsource the e-visa system.
The petitions were heard before a three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justices Achala Wengappuli and Arjuna Obeyesekere.
The Additional Solicitor General informed court that the current Cabinet had appointed a subcommittee to examine the legality of the agreements with the private companies and requested time to report on its findings, stating that the review was still underway.
President’s Counsel Sumanthiran, appearing as one of the petitioners, told the court that although the present government had indicated its intention to cancel the transaction, the petitioners wished to proceed with the case.
He noted that members of the current Cabinet had been named as respondents in the petitions.The Supreme Court directed the petitioners to issue notice on the members of the current Cabinet, named as respondents, and fixed September 29 for further proceedings.
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US$ 2.5 mn cyber heist exposes system failures
Opposition signs no-confidence motion against Justice Minister for dereliction of duty over Negombo Prison deaths
AG informs SC of e-visa agreement review
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