UNP-JVP political relationship and Wickremesinghe’s arrest

Former President and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent arrest over alleged misuse of public funds caused irreparable damage to the once critically important political relationship between the UNP and the JVP, the main constituent of the ruling NPP.

- By Shamindra Ferdinando

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is the leader of both the JVP, founded in 1965, and the NPP, formed in 2019. Both are registered political parties. The NPP parliamentary group consists of 159 members, whereas the UNP, founded in 1946, now for the first time, is not represented in Parliament.

The former President's arrest on August 22 and being remanded till August 26 didn’t influence any spontaneous public reaction. The hapless UNP couldn't even swiftly organise a well-attended protest against the government.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested Wickremesinghe over spending public funds for his visit to the UK in September 2023 to attend a ceremony to confer the title of Professor on the then First Lady Prof. Wickremesinghe at the University of Wolverhampton, in Wolverhampton. Wickremesinghe has denied the accusation.

Wickremesinghe appeared to have misjudged the government's intentions, possibly because of the two parties’ clandestine under the surface romance of the recent past. Leader of the House, Bimal Rathnayake, revealed their intention to go after Wickremesinghe on March 15, 2025, when he accused the former President of squandering public funds on a private visit to the UK. Minister Rathnayake disclosed that the visit cost the taxpayer as much as Rs 16.2 mn over a period of 48 hours. According to the Minister, Wickremesinghe's delegation consisted of 10, including spouse Prof. Wickremesinghe.

Wickremesinghe appeared to have failed to realise that Minister Rathnayake made the disclosure in Parliament consequent to a comprehensive investigation. The declaration made by Minister Rathnayake, in Parliament, underscored two major factors, (i) the readiness on the part of the NPP government to go the whole hog and take Wickremesinghe into custody and (ii) the impending threat of humiliation more than anything else, on the former President.