The Hon. Namal Rajapaksa, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, thank you.

¶ 02 We welcome the long-discussed Sri Lanka–UAE agreement finally coming to fruition. But recall how the current rulers previously treated investments. If you sign investment agreements today, you should also investigate the purported “Dubai Marriott hotel owner” stories you once spread, and the former President’s claim of a Dubai cheque. You alleged USD 18 billion in Dubai—bring those facts to Parliament now.

¶ 03 Create an investment climate—stop branding investors as “thieves,” as you did between 2005–2015 for every major investor. Despite FCID probes, you later turned to rely on those same investors. What FDI have you brought now? We hear more about factories shutting down and allegations that a deputy minister tried to form a union to extort. A minister even said an “ice” factory investment was coming—that’s all we’ve seen announced.

¶ 04 You now claim the government is cracking down on organized crime, but statistik show record numbers of shootings after you took office. Red notices were issued under the previous government; your government arrested them; fine. But you held press conferences showing our photos and then shot four suspects. Can our police not apprehend them without resorting to that? A minister admitted 17 passports were fraudulently produced on his first day—whose were they? Linked to organized criminals? Were those the same passports used by criminals abroad to extend documents?

¶ 05 On the two containers: cranes didn’t lift them to Middeniya by themselves; they left the port. The Port Control Unit should have stopped them; media reports—including in Dinamina of 8 September 2025—say a foreign intelligence agency centered in India provided timely information, and the containers were still released. Investigations were conducted; yet containers were taken to private premises. If, as you claim, the Rajapaksas control the port, Customs, police, and organized crime, then what good is your government? Your own deputy minister publicly accepted responsibility, saying he gave gate instructions. The President admitted mistakes in Parliament. Don’t deflect onto the Opposition. Conduct unbiased investigations and prosecute whoever is responsible, regardless of politics.

¶ 06 Stop trying to bury this matter. The attempt to cover up will backfire. If there are masterminds, take them down—whether politicians or anyone else. We have nothing to hide. Do not use selective prosecutions or media theatrics. Enforce the law impartially. Thank you.