Former Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has issued a special media statement rejecting reports that he excessively used vehicles and fuel during his tenure, describing the allegations as a complete distortion of facts, politically motivated misinformation and a malicious attack.
Abeywardena said he had previously clarified the matter on two occasions in March 2025. He noted that the relevant special audit report examined vehicle and fuel use by various parliamentary officials—including former Speakers, Deputy Speakers, Deputy Chairpersons of Committees, Secretaries-General, Assistant Secretaries-General and heads of departments—from 2015 to 2024.
However, he alleged that information relating solely to his tenure was being selectively highlighted to serve narrow political interests.
He said the audit report itself confirmed that he had used only vehicles officially provided by Parliament and maintained that an earlier claim that he had used nine vehicles had been proven false.
According to Abeywardena, all the vehicles were assigned for the Speaker’s official duties and security requirements in accordance with circulars and provisions issued by the Secretary to the President.
He said his security had been strengthened during the political and social unrest in July 2022, with Special Task Force and additional police personnel deployed at his official and private residences.
During that period, when a constitutional transfer of power was taking place, heavy security had also been deployed around Parliament, he said. Vehicles were used as advance and escort vehicles and to transport security officers based on recommendations from the Defence Ministry.
He added that one of the two additional vehicles provided by the Presidential Secretariat during this period was a fuel-efficient model.
Abeywardena said fuel expenditure gradually increased in 2023 and 2024 due to a rise in official duties, travel and security requirements. He argued that the fuel consumed by the security convoy of the Speaker—the country’s third-highest-ranking citizen—during official visits across the island could not be compared with the private vehicle use of an ordinary individual.
He further noted that the audit report showed fuel use in 2020, 2021 and 2022 was similar to that recorded under previous Speakers.
Abeywardena accused social media users of portraying the total annual fuel consumption of all vehicles assigned to the Speaker’s Office as though it had been consumed by a single vehicle. He described such claims as either reflecting a lack of numerical understanding or being deliberately misleading.
He also rejected allegations that the fuel had been consumed while the public was waiting in queues. The National Fuel Pass system, introduced on August 1, 2022, ended lengthy fuel queues, while the QR-based system was discontinued in September 2023, he said.
Linking fuel consumption figures from 2023 and 2024 to the 2022 fuel-queue crisis was therefore a failed political attempt to provoke the public, the statement added.
Abeywardena said it was unscientific to describe the total fuel consumption as “unlimited personal use” without considering the number of vehicles, distances travelled, official journeys and the deployment of escort vehicles.
All official records relating to vehicle movements and fuel allocations remained with Parliament and could be examined by any citizen seeking to verify the facts, he said.
The former Speaker noted that even under the present peaceful conditions, holders of senior office used more than two vehicles for security and official duties, with the Government likely incurring similar expenses.
He argued that it was unreasonable to describe the operation of security convoys during the extraordinary circumstances of 2022 as abnormal or unnecessary. He also questioned whether selectively publicising information relating to his tenure was intended to divert public attention from other matters.
Abeywardena said he had no objection to legal or administrative action if evidence of any irregularity existed and called for all relevant data to be properly examined.
However, the Auditor General’s special report on Parliament states that fuel had been provided without limitation because no fuel ceiling had been imposed for the office of the Speaker.
According to Table 7 of the report, the Speaker’s Office received 299,146 litres of fuel between 2016 and 2024, costing Rs. 75,260,648.
During Abeywardena’s tenure, the office received 47,926 litres in 2023, averaging 3,994 litres per month, and 73,461 litres in 2024, averaging 6,122 litres per month.
The Auditor General’s report noted that monthly fuel consumption by the Speaker’s Office increased by 66% in 2023 and 155% in 2024 compared with 2022, describing the sharp increase as problematic and raising serious concerns.
