Leader of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) Udaya Gammanpila has alleged that there is a plan to arrest him before the major opposition rally titled “Mahajana Handa” (Voice of the People), scheduled to be held in Nugegoda on 21 November.

He made this statement during a press conference held in Colombo yesterday (29).

Gammanpila further said that National People’s Power (NPP) MP Nilanthi Kottahachchi had insulted the judiciary, raising doubts about her status as an attorney-at-law. Therefore, he called on her to publicly release her legal practising certificate.

Commenting on a complaint recently filed against him with the Bribery Commission, Gammanpila claimed that officials of the Commission had acted in collaboration with an activist from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to record the complaint. He said the complaint alleged that he had violated Section 125 of the Bribery Act by making statements through the media and social media that had allegedly damaged the reputation of the Commission’s Director General.

He further alleged that the officials involved appeared more eager to pursue the complaint than the complainant himself, who had no registration certificate or official number to prove his affiliation with an NGO.

Gammanpila claimed that the Bribery Commission’s officials had themselves drafted the complaint and added that individuals linked to his party’s Pivithuru Vimusuṃ Kawaya were present within government institutions, the Presidential Secretariat, ministries, and even within the Bribery Commission.

“We have credible evidence showing that the highest marks for the post of Director General of the Bribery Commission were obtained by Madhava Thennakoon, but instead, Ranga Dissanayake was appointed due to political interference by the President, the Prime Minister, and the Leader of the House,” he stated.

He added that their criticism was not based on speculation but on facts revealed in affidavits filed before the Supreme Court.

“If the head of the Bribery Commission is appointed as a result of a corrupt process, can there be any greater act of corruption than that? When we pointed this out with evidence, instead of correcting the wrongdoing, the government is now using anti-corruption laws to hunt and silence those who expose corruption,” Gammanpila said.

He alleged that the government was now conspiring to detain him for at least two weeks prior to the planned Nugegoda rally.

“The latest act in the play titled ‘Gammanpila to Jail’ is now being performed,” he remarked.