The Hon. Eranga Gunasekara - Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs
Hon. Eranga Gunasekara raised a Question of Privilege under Standing Order 22(11), stating that several newspapers and websites falsely reported that he had been named a suspect in the arson attack on former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence and had failed to appear in court. He said the reports led to defamatory social media posts, damaged his reputation, and violated his parliamentary privilege. He requested that the matter be referred to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges, while noting support for responsible media and public access to information.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, thank you for allowing me, under Standing Order 22(11), to raise a Question of Privilege.
¶ 02 On 27 March 2025, the front page of The Island; on 28 March 2025, the front page of the Daily Mirror; on 28 March 2025, the “Dasatha Lanka News” website; on 27 March 2025, the “Lanka C News” website and the “Newshub” website; as well as the online pages of The Island and the Daily Mirror on 27 March 2025; and on 30 March 2025, The Sunday Times website, reported that I was named a suspect in the incident of setting fire to the residence of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and that I did not appear before Court that day. These reports are entirely false and misleading. I was never named a suspect in that case.
¶ 03 Using these false and inflammatory reports as a basis, social media carried defamatory posts about me. Without proper verification, these false and hateful reports by media persons and institutions have seriously damaged my reputation and violated my Parliamentary Privilege.
¶ 04 I therefore earnestly request that this matter be referred to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges of Parliament.
¶ 05 While we respect and uphold the public’s right to information and the media’s right to inform as part of a good political culture, we strongly decry the intervention of money-driven media oligarchy undermining citizen journalism. Thank you for the opportunity, Hon. Deputy Speaker.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Tuesday, 8 April 2025 ·No. 1747715041076408 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Eranga Gunasekara - Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 April 2025. No. 1747715041076408. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/15138