The Hon. Najith Indika (Medical Practitioner)

¶ 01 [3.24 p.m.]

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, I regret having to begin not from where I intended. Within seven months of this Parliament being constituted, someone who yesterday publicly admitted he had spoken falsely now comes here accusing others of lying.

¶ 03 Today we debate Regulations under the Anti-Corruption Act, No. 9 of 2023. We are at the final stage. Since coming to office, our Government has brought three key instruments: in April we passed the Proceeds of Crime Recovery law; in May we amended the Code of Criminal Procedure; and now we are adopting Regulations under the Anti-Corruption Act.

¶ 04 Some processes began earlier, but we fast-tracked and regularised them within our first months. Our anti-corruption drive is not accidental; it is deliberate. This country long normalised corruption and illicit enrichment in politics. Our leaders have publicly exposed this—for example through COPE under Minister Sunil Handunnetti, and through Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe’s “Voice Against Corruption.” President Anura Dissanayake has been one of the strongest voices against corruption.

¶ 05 Recently, when cases proceed—against Mahindananda, Nalin, Rajitha, or others—some say the President as an MP had raised these matters before. Corruption grew like a cancer embedded in politics; we have always opposed it. After the bankruptcy in 2022, the people mandated us—rejecting the two main camps—to build a corruption-free administration. The election results reflect that logical outcome.

¶ 06 This is not about credit. The system requires the AG to file cases properly with documentation. In the past, how many cases were withdrawn on technicalities? That is the difference now—not political pressure on courts, but proper process across institutions, including the Justice Ministry.

¶ 07 Consider how deeply this is ingrained. On May Day, a former MP shamelessly said they took tens of thousands during that era and used development projects to build vote banks. This was normalised. Such a system cannot cleanse itself; hence NPP has taken it on.

¶ 08 At the last local elections, we won 267 of 339 bodies—78 percent; 74 percent of divisions nationally. We have formed 151 councils and will form the remainder shortly. Faced with this, the Opposition reacts in various ways—some behaving like in a dream, some peddling falsehoods, and later apologising, including on the 323 containers. We suspect more apologies will follow.

¶ 09 Those who repeatedly admit they lied over the past seven months now accuse us. Finally, a psychological note: people faced great loss and grief. The five stages—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance—are visible in the Opposition, especially in the SJB. The front row is still in denial that the NPP forms the Government. Reality must be accepted; some in the back rows already have and offer fair criticism. Thank you.