Wednesday 18th February, 2026

The legal fraternity is up in arms over last week’s murder of a lawyer and his wife in a Colombo suburb. On 13 February, two gunmen shot lawyer Buddhika Mallawarachchi and his wife Nisansala dead inside their car near a supermarket at Akuregoda, where the Defence Headquarters Complex is located. The killers used a T-56 assault rifle and a pistol in the attack. There was absolutely no need for an assault rifle to kill the unarmed victims. Those who ordered the killing may have sought to make the attack as spectacular as possible, probably to send a chilling message to others.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) sprang into action, cranking up pressure on the government and the police to bring the killers to justice forthwith. It resorted to a one-day boycott of court proceedings in protest, urging the government to ensure the safety of lawyers and the public. The BASL reaction jolted the police into arresting some suspects with underworld links.

Hardly a day passes in this country without a shooting incident that snuffs out a life or two. Last year saw about 114 shooting incidents, which reportedly claimed 60 lives. About seven persons have been shot dead so far this year, according to media reports. The police have pathetically failed to prevent crime. They are busy doing political work for the incumbent government to the extent of making one wonder whether they have any time left for their regular duties and functions, including crime prevention. The CID is apparently labouring under the misconception that its raison d’etre is to protect the interests of the incumbent government and its members.

The police have drawn heavy flak for seeking to muddy the water over Friday’s killings by making some claims that have been construed as attempts to blame underworld rivalry for the double murder and imply that Mallawarachchi had underworld links. They may have sought to use their stock excuse of underworld rivalries in a bid to cover up their failure to neutralise the organised criminal gangs.

Attempts are made in some quarters to turn public opinion against lawyers who defend drug dealers, rapists, homicidal killers and other such criminals. It is a well-established legal principle that every person accused of a criminal offence has the right to be represented by a lawyer. This constitutes one of the core safeguards of a fair trial. The idea is to prevent offenders from being denied a proper opportunity to defend themselves, often through counsel, and condemned. Since the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty, they must have a full chance to defend themselves, including through legal counsel. After all, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognises the right of an accused to have legal assistance. So, no lawyer should be vilified for representing any offender, even if the latter has perpetrated a heinous crime. There have been instances where lawyers refused to appear for some criminals. Such action violates the aforesaid legal principle.

Some government ministers have claimed that the incidents, such as the killing of Mallawarachchi and his wife, are isolated ones that cannot be considered threats to national security. They are being overly pedantic about the distinction between public security and national security. Obviously, public security and national security are different though the differences between them are often taken for granted. Technically, public security concerns the safety of citizens whereas national security concerns the protection of the state from major strategic threats. However, governments in this country use public security and national security interchangeably when it serves their purpose. According to the Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill, even public security issues are treated as threats to national security. The Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was introduced to protect the state and national security, is used to arrest and detain offenders who can be dealt with under ordinary laws.

The government and the police must get their act together instead of splitting hairs and trying to obfuscate the real issue of growing vulnerability of the public vis-à-vis the rise of the underworld.

With criminal gangs becoming more powerful and demonstrating their ability to strike anywhere at will, and with the police failing to prevent crime, what the situation would be if the LTTE were still active militarily is anyone’s guess.

Tuesday 17th February, 2026

The JVP-NPP government is on cloud nine over the results of an opinion poll. Verité Research Mood of the Nation poll indicates that the government’s approval rating rose to 65 percent in early February 2026, compared to 62 percent recorded a year earlier. The disapproval rating remained low and unchanged from February 2025.

Interestingly, the results of the aforesaid poll have been published close on the heels of the Opposition’s claim that according to a recent survey commissioned by the government, the approval rating of the ruling JVP-NPP coalition has plummeted to a mere 25%.

In this country, opinion poll results and astrological predictions heavily influence politicians’ decisions. In 2014, all opinion surveys commissioned by the then UPFA government overestimated President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s popularity, and leading astrologers also predicted an easy win for him in a presidential election. Rajapaksa therefore faced a presidential election prematurely in 2015, only to suffer an ignominious defeat.

All those who flaunt the results of opinion surveys ought to realise that the snapshots of public opinion have complex, inherent limitations. Margins of error only cover sampling uncertainty and don’t fully capture all real-world complexities statistically. There’s always a possibility of inaccuracy in the results of the opinion polls. Pollsters, sociologists and psephologists are aware of the fickle nature of public opinion and practical difficulties in gauging it accurately due to several factors, such as sampling bias and errors, non-response bias, low participation, shifts in opinion after polling, respondent misreporting, interpretation and media influence, etc.

An election is the best way to figure out the approval rating of a government in a credible manner. If the JVP/NPP takes the Verité Research poll results seriously, it should hold the much-delayed Provincial Council (PC) elections fast. True, the PC polls have been caught between two electoral systems. They cannot be held under the Proportional Representation (PR) system because of the new election laws. The Mixed Proportional system, under which the PC elections have to be held, is in abeyance because the delimitation process has not been completed. The Election Commission (EC) has said that the delimitation of electorates will take about one year. The government can easily overcome this legal hurdle by amending the PC Elections Act to enable the EC to hold the PC elections under the PR system.

The Opposition has been urging the government to hold the PC polls expeditiously. So, it will be possible for an amendment to the PC Elections Act to be moved unanimously. In fact, all the political parties currently represented in Parliament, save one or two, are responsible for the indefinite postponement of the PC polls. In 2017, they facilitated the passage of an amendment to the PC Elections Act during the UNP-led Yahapalana government to put off PC elections. They are duty bound to right that wrong.

Meanwhile, the Opposition’s claims about ‘secret surveys’ commissioned by the government and their results that are not favourable to the ruling coalition should be taken with a pinch of salt. Similarly, it needs to be found out whether the outfits that conduct surveys that indicate a huge increase in the popularity of governments have vested interests.

Here is an unsolicited word of caution. Those who take opinion poll results seriously should learn from what befell a New Zealand politician about two decades ago. Believing in a pre-poll survey prediction that he would win an election hands down, Keith Locke of the Green Party became so cocky that he swore at a public rally that he would run naked in public if his opponent won. Locke lost the election, and came under pressure to fulfil his pledge. He made good on his promise, but had himself covered with a body painting and wore a G-string! So, those who uncritically accept opinion poll results and base their decisions thereon would be well advised not to repeat Locke’s mistake or have G-strings ready.

Monday 16th February, 2026

SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa has called for a special presidential commission to investigate undisclosed funds received by various individuals and organisations linked to Aragalaya. One may recall that Aragalaya ceased to be a genuine, leaderless people’s protest campaign after being hijacked by some political forces with hidden agendas. Now that a sinister move to pressure the then Speaker of Parliament to violate the Constitution at the height of Aragalaya has come to light, one cannot but endorse the demand for an investigation into the so-called money trail.

However, Namal may go on shouting until he is blue in the face, but his call for an investigation into the Aragalaya funds will go unheeded for obvious reasons. The JVP-led NPP owes its meteoric rise to power mostly to Aragalaya, which was born out of a tsunami-like surge of public resentment at the mainstream political parties that had been in power since Independence. Therefore, the JVP-NPP government will not do anything that may help bolster the SLPP’s efforts to portray Aragalaya as a conspiracy against the Rajapaksa rule and the country. The Gampaha High Court judgement in the MP Amarakeerthi Athukorale murder case has already shed light on the seamy side of Aragalaya. Twelve persons have been condemned to death for murdering Athukorale and his security officer during the violent phase of Aragalaya in 2022.

The SLPP managed to retain its hold on power by craftily elevating Ranil Wickremesinghe to the presidency amidst political upheavals in 2022, and therefore it had two years to investigate and find out where the money for Aragalaya had come from and who the beneficiaries of those undisclosed funds were. Why didn’t Namal call for a presidential commission to probe the Aragalaya funds then?

A probe into Aragalaya must not be limited to the money trail. A high-level investigation must be conducted into former Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena’s claim that he came under pressure during Aragalaya to act in violation of the Constitution over the appointment of the Acting President.

Professor Sunanda Maddumabandara, who was Senior Advisor (Media) to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, has disclosed in his book, ‘Aragalaye Balaya’ (‘Power of Aragalaya’), that on 13 July 2022, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay visited Abeywardena and asked him to take over as president, but the latter said in no uncertain terms that he would never violate the Constitution. Abeywardena has revealed that soon after Baglay’s departure, a group of Sri Lankans led by Ven. Omalpe Sobitha, arrived at the Speaker’s official residence and asked him to take over the presidency. When he repeated what he had told the Indian envoy, Sobitha Thera sought to intimidate him into doing their bidding. The group consisted of another Buddhist monk, some Catholic priests, and a trade unionist, according to Abeywardena.

According to Prof. Maddumabandara, Baglay told Abeywardena that if the latter took over the presidency, protests could be brought under control within 45 minutes. Prof. Maddumabandara has told this newspaper in a brief interview that only a person who had control over the protesters could give such an assurance. One may recall that it was the JVP that led the protesters who surrounded Parliament in July 2022. Minister K. D. Lal Kantha himself has admitted that the JVP tried to lead the Aragalaya protesters to capture Parliament, but without success.

Why hasn’t Namal called for a probe into Abeywardena’s damning allegation? Will he pledge to order an investigation into the alleged move to plunge the country into anarchy if the SLPP forms a government? He has his work cut out to convince the discerning people that his call for an investigation into the Aragalaya funds, at this juncture, is not aimed at diverting public attention from the ongoing probes against him and his family members.