President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the crimes and large-scale corruption committed under previous administrations were so extensive that virtually no one involved in the country’s former corrupt political system would be spared as investigations unfolded.
He said the scale of the destruction was so profound that even he sometimes wondered whether everyone involved would ultimately have to be punished.
The President said examining internal government documents and files revealed the gravity of a vast criminal network that had engulfed the entire country—far beyond what could be understood by discussing corruption from outside the government.
He said this situation had damaged Sri Lanka’s international reputation, portraying it as a “blackened nation” and a corrupt country with a collapsed economy. The present government, he added, would fulfil its responsibility to dismantle that system and clean up the country.
President Dissanayake described the actions of politicians and officials under previous administrations as a staged “cops and robbers” game.
“First, everyone shouts ‘thief, thief’, and the police give chase. Then the thief runs away and hides. After nightfall, they all get together, have a cup of tea, visit a friend’s house and disperse. They never imagined that another group would come to power and actually send the police after them. Everyone is panicking now because the cops-and-robbers game that had been played as a joke for so long has become real,” he said.
Commenting on the daily arrests, the President said many individuals were being brought before the law because authorities were simultaneously attempting to resolve a large number of cases and investigations that had accumulated over the past 15 to 20 years.
He said investigations must be completed swiftly because certain offences could no longer be prosecuted after 20 years due to statutory time limitations. However, when the law was enforced expeditiously, the Opposition attempted to portray it as political revenge, he added.
The President said the administration of justice had been severely obstructed, citing cases filed in 2018 in which not a single witness had been examined by 2026. He also referred to cases allegedly withdrawn through the Attorney General’s Department under political pressure and cases improperly instituted by the Bribery Commission.
He said the government had taken measures to improve the efficiency of the Criminal Investigation Department and planned to introduce a special allowance for police officers from next January.
The provision of facilities, vehicles and special allowances had also enabled the Government Analyst’s Department to expedite the release of reports that had previously faced lengthy delays, with 9,084 reports issued within a single month, he said.
The government was also establishing seven new High Courts in Colombo to accelerate trials and deliver judgments before incidents faded from public memory, the President added.
He said individuals linked to large-scale corruption were becoming alarmed as the law was properly enforced and were approaching foreign embassies and international organisations. However, he stressed that the government would not reverse any decision taken on behalf of the people.
President Dissanayake further said the Supreme Court’s determination on the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution would be presented to Parliament immediately upon receipt within the stipulated 21-day period, allowing the Bill to be passed.
He said the government would bring the country’s “black economy” and dark era to an end by ensuring that those responsible for corruption were appropriately punished.
