පාස්කු ප්රහාරය පවුලක බලය වෙනුවෙන් කළ අපරාධයක් මත්ද්රව්ය හා පාතාලය මඬින්න පොදුජන සහාය ඕනෑ මාස කිහිපයක් ඇතුළත ත්රස්තවාදී පනත අහෝසි කරනවා අපරාධකරුවන් මරා දැමීමට වගේම බේරාදීමටත් සල්ලි ගන්නවා මහජන ධනය හොරාකන පිරිස් ඇල්ලීමේ මහජන අපේක්ෂාවට අපි පණ පොවනවා උපරිමාධිකරණ පුරප්පාඩු ළඟදීම…
The Easter attack was a crime committed for the power of a family. We need public support to eradicate drugs and the underworld. The Terrorism Act will be repealed within a few months. Money is taken to kill and rescue criminals. We are fulfilling the public expectation of catching those who steal public wealth. The vacancies in the Supreme Court will be filled soon. 33 new magistrates have been recruited. Not a single tear gas canister has been used against the public in the last two years. Carrying a mace is not a heroic act, but a despicable act. The government is fulfilling the public expectation of punishing the corrupt and the dishonest. The Prevention of Terrorism Act will be repealed this year. The President emphasized that it was the expectation of the public in this country to punish those who have committed fraud and corruption by stealing public property, and that the current government is a government that is fulfilling that expectation. He emphasized that no crime will be allowed to be buried under the sands of time and that the responsibility of bringing criminals to justice will be fulfilled. The President made this statement while participating in the adjourned debate on combating the menace of drugs in Parliament yesterday (25) morning. The President pointed out that the essence of the mandate given to the current government by the people is to build a civilized state. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake further said, “I am very happy to present several points regarding the proposals that have been submitted for debate in Parliament today, especially on the eradication of toxic drugs and the suppression of organized crime. This toxic drug menace and organized crime gangs have been growing in our country for a long time, alarming the society and causing great destruction to the society. We do not believe at all that the emergence and growth of these toxic drugs and organized crime gangs was based solely on that. There are very clear networks of relationships for that. Therefore, if these toxic drugs and organized crime gangs are to be suppressed, attention must be paid to that entire field. Organized crime gangs, drug dealers, corruption that was widespread throughout state institutions and political authorities. As well as the criminal states that had entered the state. Organizations that worked for political interests, as well as political relationships. This can only be ended by suppressing all of these. Therefore, we have now decided to destroy all of these. That must be done. I know that there is a group that is shouldering this task to a large extent. Unfortunately, today it is that group that has become the main accused of the opposition. Corruption, organized crime gangs, drug dealers, crimes committed by the state apparatus, all of these must be suppressed. Today, laws have been made for this. There are institutions. It is useless to have institutions. A public official mechanism is needed that can provide direct leadership to those institutions and defeat them. The group that is shouldering that responsibility has become the enemies of the opposition today. In this exercise, the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Deputy Inspector General of Police Shani Abeysekara, is playing a major role. Today he is an enemy of the opposition. In this task, the Director General of the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption, Mr. Ranga Dissanayake, is playing a major role. He is an enemy of the opposition today. Likewise, the Secretary to Public Security, Mr. Ravi Seneviratne, as well as the Minister Mr. Ananda Wijepala, Mr. Dileepa Peiris of the Attorney General's Department are making a great contribution. Today they have become enemies of the opposition. Also, the judiciary is playing a big role here, and the judiciary is also an enemy of the opposition today. Why is that? There has been a situation where some groups in the opposition today cannot tolerate justice, fairness and civility. Today, democracy and good governance cannot tolerate them. If crimes have been committed from within the state with the support of the state, shouldn't those criminals be exposed? Is it betrayal of the country? Is it treason? No, the intention is to build a civilized country. We have respect, appreciation and heartfelt respect for our army and our intelligence service. But if they are persecuted anywhere when our army and our intelligence service perform any role for the security of the state, whether domestically or internationally, If the army and intelligence agencies are deployed for the security of the country and the people for the sake of survival, we are obliged to protect and respect them anywhere. We are fulfilling that duty. However, if very small groups in that army and intelligence agency have acted for the power of a certain family, for the power of a certain political camp, in the interests of the state, I would like to say that our government will not hesitate to give appropriate punishment to them. We must do it for our army. And we must do it for the sake of building a civilized state. We must do it for the security of the people of our country. How was Lasantha Wickramatunga killed? It was not a conflict between ordinary civilians. A journalist against the government was killed. It is reported that the intelligence agencies were used. Should it be hidden? Keith Noyar was kidnapped and attacked. It is reported that he is being held in a safe house of the army. Upali Thennakoon was attacked. Poddala Jayantha was attacked. Namal was attacked. These are not civil conflicts. Crimes committed for the sake of the power of a family and the power of a political camp. Thajudeen's murder is like that, and the Easter attack is like that. Is that all? Sirasa is being set on fire, the Sunday office is being set on fire. Bombs are being thrown at Siatha. There is such a history. Behind all this, there were operators of a very small state mechanism. Doesn't the country need to expose this? Wasn't there a fear of white vans in the country, weren't people who protested in the garden being taken away by white vans without number plates? These are not ordinary civil conflicts. These are a very small group of people who should be working for the security of the state and the people, who have committed these brutal murders and crimes for their own political interests. We are a government that is bound to enforce the law for those brutal murders and crimes. No civilian, no citizen who has respect for democracy, human rights, or humanity can oppose these investigations. Today, Shani Abeysekara, Ranga Dissanayake, the police, and the judiciary are being attacked in large numbers. There is. What crime did they commit? The crime is to expose and investigate the crimes committed against the people of this country in front of the people. They are not guilty of that. If anyone thinks that they can stop this exercise by threatening and intimidating the officers individually, I assure you that we will not allow it at all. We stand for that. We should stand for the common people, not for the criminals. I invite everyone to do that. Also, there was politics associated with this. Money was taken to prevent the killing of criminals. When someone is arrested, the proper procedure is to present them to the court. But they take money to kill them without presenting them to the court. They take money to save them from death. There was no party difference in that. The people thought that these things would be covered by the sands of time. They will not allow these things to be covered by the sands of time. It is the responsibility of our state to properly bring the criminals to justice. They investigate and arrest them, file cases through the Attorney General's Department and punish them through the judicial system. But there was a history of arrests and killings. There was a history of extortion to save. The secrets of the group arrested this morning will be revealed in a little while. I don't know if your parties have such people. Also, there is a political leader who spoke to drug dealers who are in prison 92 times. He has taken 54 of them. The rest have been taken from him. I don't know if there was at least a disciplinary investigation within the party on this. This political authority has helped to develop these drugs and drug-related organized crimes. We will completely end the protection provided by the political authority for this. These people had a huge mandate. There was a core in it. That core is to transform our state into a civilized state. Parliament should be civilized. It should listen. Facts should be reported. Is this the kind of parliament the people of this country expect in this century, and direct leadership is needed for civilized statehood. Corruption has been a topic of discussion on our election platform for a long time. Since 2023, advance payments have been made through TT. Nearly a billion dollars have been made. But the goods have not arrived. This money cannot be taken by an ordinary person. There is drug money here, there is money earned through corruption, there is wealth earned through crimes. We have launched investigations into it. This has been going on for more than two years. We have now imposed regulations to prevent it. There are relationships with banks. We have identified several bank branches. It is the wealth earned through corruption that has been exported in dollars. That corruption has helped to destroy the economy and social fabric of this country. Shouldn't there be an investigation against it? We have no desire to take personal revenge or settle personal disputes with anyone. Almost two years have passed since the government came to power. If revenge is taken, it is taken the moment it takes power. This is not revenge. Parliament formally enacted strong laws to curb corruption and bribery. New staff were recruited to the Attorney General's Department. Cases in the courts were delayed. Therefore, separate High Courts were newly established. Our expectation is to expedite this process and punish those who have stolen public property. The people of this country had an expectation to punish those who have stolen public property. There was no party division for that. It is a public expectation. Therefore, the government has become a living embodiment of the expectation of the common people of this country to punish the corrupt and the fraudulent. Especially since our government came to power, a large number of poisonous drugs have been seized. Those raids have been strengthened. The arrival of drugs at the airport, port, and through the post office has been identified. Arrests are being made regardless of rank. Without any discrimination, from the underworld to the respected person, all of them have been involved in this business to a greater or lesser extent. We also know that crimes were carried out from prisons. We have established a new prison in Welisara that provides the best facilities to prisoners but completely hinders transactions with outside parties. We have brought the main criminals to Welisara. It is being carried. Its entire communication network has collapsed today. Therefore, we have significantly weakened the ability of organized crime gangs to conduct their activities from prisons. Therefore, our government has taken a number of very strong steps to suppress drug trafficking and the armed criminal gangs associated with it. We do not believe that drug trafficking and armed criminal gangs can be dismantled in a few months or a year. However, many long-term, permanent and strict measures have been taken for this. I assure you that these organized crime gangs, the underworld associated with them, and the drug network associated with them will be completely removed from Sri Lanka. We will not carry out any of these processes by destroying democracy. If problems have arisen in our fields, we have the right to criticize the government. We do not want a society that lives in fear of the ruler and lives in submission. What we want is for the ruler to constantly ask questions. A government that fulfills its responsibilities by constantly showing that the ruler is committed to the people. That is the nature of the relationship between the people and the state in a civilized society. A society that is afraid of the ruler does not move forward. There should be an opportunity to question the ruler with a free mind. Therefore, we are a political movement that always works to expand every opportunity for democracy in this country. For a long time, the people struggled to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act. I would like to say that this Prevention of Terrorism Act will be abolished this year. The final discussion on it was also held. Accordingly, we will abolish this Prevention of Terrorism Act very soon. We will formulate a strong law that is necessary. We can interpret terrorism in various ways and file cases under the PTA. There is a wide range of interpretations under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. But for organized crimes, we always formulate the interpretation as required for organized crimes. There is a very wide range in the Prevention of Terrorism Act. If they want to hunt, if they don't agree, they can find a provision under the PTA that allows them to hunt. That's how wide the definition of terrorism is within the PTA. Then the Organized Crime Act aims to crack down on organized criminals and creates a very clear definition for it. You can talk about it in Parliament. That bill will bring a definition that targets organized crime entirely. Then, there was a long debate in this Parliament when the Online Safety Act was passed. We opposed it. By then, amendments had come. The bill was passed in Parliament and the amendments were submitted to the Cabinet the next week. This is how it was in history. We will not implement the Online Safety Bill completely. But we will amend it completely. Last week, we got the approval of the Cabinet to present a bill. These are the bills that were supposed to violate the rights of the people. We are repealing them. Not only that, there have been many protests. One water cannon in the history of Sri Lanka was our rule during this period. It has not been used against. Tear gas has not been used against the people. People need to question the ruler. There is freedom. Rights need to be given. In order to move forward as a country, people need a government that gives their democratic rights. Therefore, especially a state that respects democracy as well as the human rights of people. How many journalists have been threatened in history? How many media institutions have been targeted and attacked? Not now. But amidst all this, we know that democracy means that the citizens who enjoy the rights of that democracy must also come to their senses. There is a problem in some of our political camps. They are not used to acting freely in a democracy. They were used to acting in fear and submission. Therefore, how can they present their opinions in a democratic free space? We know that if the opposition goes to parliament to raise this mace, what will happen on the other side? The government will also fall. Where did Pereda go? But one member of the government He did not come down from the bench. Why? There has always been a history in this country that carrying the mace is a heroic act of the opposition. There is a history that protecting it by not allowing it to be carried is a heroic act of the government. But this time it did not happen. The people do not see carrying the mace as a heroic act but as an act of indecency. Also, I saw that this judiciary has caused a great stir. I inquired from the Chief Justice about the non-appointment of judges in the High Courts. He has sent a very long explanation. What is the reason? We are not looking at the retirement of one judge in one court. We are thinking about the survival of the entire judicial system. Today, several magistrates' courts have closed. The Attorney General has requested a three-judge High Court. But there are no judges to appoint three-judge High Courts. In some places, the judges in the three-judge High Courts that have been established are working excessively. That Therefore, there are a large number of vacancies at the lower levels. Accordingly, we need to move forward by making lower level recruitments. Currently, the Judicial Commission has given permission to recruit fifty new magistrates. As far as I know, interviews are being held now. Out of that, thirty-three have been selected. I do not know how many will be selected after they have participated in the interviews. We have also had to close several additional magistrate courts. We are managing all of this. The Chief Justice has sent a detailed explanation about it. He has also given an idea of the targets for these appointments. Therefore, we can fill the vacancies that have arisen in the high courts in a very short time. I have seen that these are being kept by giving them a carrot and deciding cases. There is no greater insult to judges than that. Do not insult our judicial system like that. We are working hard to administer the law well and provide justice to the victims. We have no need to control a court at all. No. If the government makes a mistake, it has the right to point it out. And I believe that they will learn what their civilized framework is. We are not going to teach them. But they will learn at any time. Because they need to understand where society stands. If the media continues to move forward in the same old garbage heap, the media will lose its existence in society. Therefore, I will stop, hoping that everyone will support the program we are carrying out to transform this country into a civilized state and a civilized society, especially by protecting democracy and combating drugs and other crimes. Ranil Dharmasena