Cracking down on corruption and need for changed strategies

Prior to 2023, it was a very rare instance for parliamentarians, ministers or presidents of this country to be held responsible for crimes they committed wittingly or unwittingly.

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It had become a culture where politicians could even commit murder with impunity. Police inquiries and judicial sentences were halted or overturned on political affiliation.

A case in point being that of parliamentarian Duminda Silva. On October 8, 2011, Silva, in broad daylight and in front of hundreds of witnesses, gunned down and killed Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra. Silva was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 2016.

Within four months of assuming the presidency in 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa granted Silva—a friend of the Rajapaksa family—an amnesty and appointed him Chairman of the National Housing Development Authority.

In 2022, the Supreme Court suspended the presidential pardon and ordered Silva to be arrested and imprisoned. Political influence and corrupt practice enabled Silva to be kept in hospitals rather than prison. Silva was finally back to prison in January 2025 after a team of medical experts concluded Silva did not require treatment

Eradication of corruption was one of the primary goals of the National People's Power (NPP) government's campaign during its election campaign. Lowering the cost of living was another. Ensuring the country does not get entrapped by big international business interests has been one of the JVP/NPP's battle cries.