The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, as the Hon. Minister of Public Security is present, I wish to ask him a question. At the advisory committee of his Ministry, we discussed the current crime wave. At that meeting, the Hon. Minister clearly stated that a structured programme is being implemented to curb this crime wave. Today, society at large lives in fear, suspicion and great anxiety. Responding to our proposal, the Hon. Minister also stated very clearly that to suppress this crime wave, they will not seek to amend the Prevention of Terrorism Act; instead they will further strengthen the Code of Criminal Procedure.

¶ 02 Hon. Minister, this culture of killings and the crime wave constitute a serious threat to national security. You acknowledged this at the Ministry advisory committee. We all accept this, across party lines. Will you be using the Penal Code to curb this crime wave? What concrete measures are you taking to bring these destructive criminal killers and robbers before the law and control this wave? It is gravely affecting every sector, including civil society.

¶ 03 I also wish to remind you that we all expect a large number of tourists to visit this year, which we welcome. However, representatives of the tourism sector are now saying that these murders and this culture of killing pose not only a national security problem but also a severe problem for tourism and other sectors. Hon. Speaker, I also heard—