The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, thank you for the opportunity.

¶ 02 I had not intended to speak on this matter, but since Hon. Ananda Wijepala is present, I must. The Minister said no decision has been taken regarding the e-passport. I have the Cabinet Memorandum dated 2026.04.02 titled “Procurement of the issuance system for Electronic Travel Documents with personalization and related Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) components.” Under 3.3 it states: “Proceed with entering into an agreement with Thales DIS Finland Oy/Just in Time Technologies, obtaining a 15% performance bond.” Under 3.4 it refers to Annex 7 of the bidding document (terms and procedures for payments). The Memo seeks Cabinet approval for 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4. Hon. Minister, you have signed this and sought approval to award.

¶ 03 You ask if I read the whole paper. Whether or not the Procurement Commission has given its view, you requested approval to award. You now say the tender is not awarded and is with the Procurement Commission. But your Cabinet Paper seeks approval to give it to that consortium. Later, the Cabinet may have decided to refer it to the Procurement Commission—fine. But as Minister, you tabled a paper seeking approval to award. When Tiran Alles handled similar matters, you all disrupted Parliament calling them thieves. Now you are giving to the same parties quietly. Germany, France, Poland—all have written to the EU about this. This is a government that came to hide theft. Shame! I table this Cabinet Paper. Even GSP could be at risk.

¶ 04 Next, the digital ID. Funds from India are being used to move the digital ID printing to Madras Security Printers (MSP). Hon. Anura Dissanayake stated on 2023-08-11 that giving this to MSP would cause a loss of Rs. 1.2 billion to the Government. He further noted the counterfeit excise sticker printing had caused Rs. 60 billion loss in excise revenue, as stated in December by the Minister of Justice in this Parliament. He also said countries including Kenya, Sudan, and Liberia have blacklisted MSP for suspect dealings. Yet you now plan to give digital ID printing to this company. Is this the “anti-corruption” government? The EU has been petitioned about these matters; the Foreign Ministry has been alerted.

¶ 05 The Minister misled Parliament saying no such proposal was presented. I have tabled the Cabinet Paper. Now he says, “Although I presented it, Cabinet did not approve.” Minister, you should have checked these companies and the tender properly before bringing a paper seeking approval. Later, Cabinet referring it to Procurement is separate. But you sought approval to award.

¶ 06 Your CID—file cases if you wish, even against Ajith Perera. We will see. Do not allow such sordid conduct.

¶ 07 On another matter: journalist Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi has exposed the Airbus A330-200 deal. A large fraud. The government that claims to fight corruption has a JJB municipal member resigning from Kurunegala MC citing rampant mismanagement, corruption, unauthorized constructions, illicit fuel use, irregular overtime, etc.

¶ 08 On the Airbus: after nine months of refusing information under “commercial” excuses, the RTI Commission ordered disclosure in a 32-page order. The aircraft is 14 years old; a lease for eight more years at US$ 28.6 million; US$ 275,000 per month; but after 15 years, most airlines don’t fly such aircraft without special approvals. With an additional eight years, it becomes 21 years old. Show me who flies 21-year-old A330s in commercial fleets as a norm. Maintenance costs—engine overhauls, avionics, hydraulics, metal fatigue—will be massive. We do not own it; after paying, we return it and still pay exit costs. This is a colossal fraud.

¶ 09 This morning the Speaker denied me time to raise serious issues regarding Harsha Sooriyaarachchi, Secretary to the Treasury. I submitted 19 grounds, including violation of the Constitution by failing to send any one of his three line secretaries to COPF sessions, and failing to report US$ 2.5 million payments to an Australian company to COPF, violating Articles 148, 149, and 150. The Speaker says “insufficient” grounds—astonishing.

¶ 10 Further, as per certificate CIT 100096534 dated 2010.09.13, he obtained dual citizenship. If he had Australian citizenship and later renounced it upon entering Parliament, at that point he would be stateless if not regularized—an “alien”—yet he functioned for months as Finance Secretary. He must clarify before the committee whether he held and then renounced Australian citizenship. This implicates Article 91. I will report this to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

¶ 11 I conclude, lamenting the corruption and fraud occurring under your government.