The Hon. Dinindu Saman Hennayake

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, we witnessed today what the President highlighted yesterday: though it is hard to fight crime in a criminalized state, not fighting is even worse. We saw how, cloaked in white and red shawls, crimes were embedded in politics for years. Youth could not even play freely—sports became suspect—while drugs, fraud, corruption, and theft were entrenched.

¶ 02 Now, as that old order collapses, those criminals attempt to re-emerge under political costumes. We see continuous drug busts in Tangalle, including record hauls on land. We had never heard of meth (“ice”) being manufactured domestically or factories operating here—but now we have. While we must deliver economic relief, we must also fight this entrenched criminal nexus of politicians, business networks, and complicit officials.

¶ 03 Those who once protected drug-accused politicians now lecture us on drugs. Our mothers and fathers suffer as children fall prey; parents fear until their children return from school. We must not allow those behind these “stage plays” to destroy lives and property. We need a massive people’s front against drugs. The President earlier said we cannot do this naively because politicians are involved. Indeed, behind them are business networks and complicit officials. The godfathers now come here to ask how drugs came, from where, and how they are caught—the very architects of this crisis.

¶ 04 To the “prince of Iceland 2029” dreaming of returning to power: if you come to rebuild, you will inherit a zombie nation if you continue this “ice” culture. Thankfully, political change has interrupted that path. We also once never imagined container-loads of meth entering this country—yet here we are. The goal was to make our youth weak and addicted to advance a degenerate political culture. That culture is ending.

¶ 05 We heard boasts that 182 of 184 police stations had their handpicked OICs. The IGP himself said politicians made these appointments. We had a corrupt IGP; this government acted to jail him.

¶ 06 Therefore, to those politicians accused or implicated in drug matters: do not think you can keep deceiving the people. We will not allow the return of that politics. We must save our youth and wipe the tears of parents. Let us build a popular wall against this menace—with politicians, public servants, and the business community joining. We invite all citizens to unite to end this cruel culture. Only with people’s power can we uproot this corruption and decay. We will not allow Sri Lanka to become an “ice land” or a zombie country. That is why we entered politics. Join us to defeat this politics. Thank you.