Friday 29th November, 2024

It is a supreme irony that some unredeemable characters who, intoxicated with power, sought to summon even Supreme Court judges to Parliament, during the Rajapaksa-Wickremesinghe regime, are now visiting the CID headquarters meekly. They no longer bark at journalists or bellow rhetoric. One hopes that the present-day rulers will learn from their predecessors’ predicament, and act responsibly.

The CID continues to question those who served as ministers in the SLPP-UNP government on Cabinet approval granted for proposals submitted by the then Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella for procuring medicinal drugs, etc., which were later found to be substandard. Former Minister Bandula Gunawardena, on his way to the CID headquarters, yesterday, told reporters that it was the first time he was going to make a statement to the CID over a Cabinet decision. Some politicians seem to think Cabinet decisions are not liable to legal scrutiny.

Opinion may be divided on whether former ministers could be questioned over what they did at Cabinet meetings, and on the manner in which the CID has chosen to handle the issue of corrupt procurement deals under previous governments, but the fact remains that all those who authorised the Health Ministry to purchase poor-quality and fake medicinal drugs, etc., thereby endangering the lives of patients and enabling politicians and officials to line their pockets, cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility for those procurement rackets. Most of all, the Cabinet of Ministers must not be allowed to place itself above the law. The SLPP-UNP Cabinet became a metaphor for corruption, and all allegations against its members must be investigated thoroughly.

All those who, as members of the SLPP-UNP Cabinet, committed the grave sin of approving the cancer drug racket, either wittingly or unwittingly, must be ashamed of themselves. They make a public display of their religiosity while indulging in corrupt practices; they do not seem to worry about the prospects of torments in hell for their sinful actions.

In 2023, the then President Ranil Wickremesinghe had the chutzpah to dare the Opposition to oust Rambukwella as the Health Minister thorough a no-faith motion; he was fully confident that the SLPP-UNP combine had enough numbers to scuttle such a move in Parliament. As many as 113 SLPP MPs opposed a motion of no confidence the Opposition moved against Rambukwella for the procurement of substandard medical and surgical supplies. They did so despite the availability of irrefutable evidence that the Health Ministry on Rambukwella’s watch had purchased a consignment of fake immunoglobulin and endangered the lives of cancer patients. Only 73 MPs voted for the no-faith motion, which was defeated by a majority of 40 votes.

Wickremesinghe and the SLPP leaders would have opened an escape route for Rambukwella but for pressure from the Opposition, the media and civil society organisations on them to allow him to be legally dealt with. It was obvious that the Rajapaksa-Wickremesinghe government was oblivious to reality and digging its political grave.

Wickremesinghe suffered a humiliating defeat in the September presidential election. Most of the shameless MPs who defended Rambukwella either lacked courage to contest the recent general election or failed to get re-elected. Unfortunately, a handful of them have been able to re-enter Parliament and pollute it. They, too, must be made to pay for their sins.

The CID should question former President Wickremesinghe and former Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena as well on the cancer drug racket, which shook the conscience of the nation.