Will Ranil Wickremesinghe’s arrest mark a break from Elite impunity in Sri Lanka?

Opinion
By Editor_1
Former Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrives at the Magistrate’s Court in Colombo on August 22, 2025 -Lahiru Harshana/Reuters

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested and remanded on August 22, a development that can only be described as historic. Never before has a Sri Lankan head of state been taken into custody.

Many Sri Lankans are pleasantly surprised by this development; they feel that Wickremesinghe’s arrest signals that political elites are no longer above the law. However, several others have been quick to cry foul, alleging that the former president’s arrest was the outcome of political vendetta.

Leaders of opposition parties, who for years were Wickremesinghe’s most bitter political rivals, held a press conference two days later, in support of the former president. Incidentally, a number of politicians from these parties are facing allegations of corruption.

Wickremesinghe’s arrest stems from a brief stopover in London in September 2023, after attending a G-77 summit in Cuba and the UN General Assembly in New York. Wickremesinghe and his wife attended a ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom. The Criminal Investigation Department alleges that although the visit was private, over 16.6 million Sri Lankan rupees of state funds (US$ 55,300) were misused to finance their London sojourn.

Sri Lanka had declared bankruptcy in 2022. According to UNICEF, 3.9 million Sri Lankans were “moderately food insecure with over 10,000 households facing severe food insecurity” in 2023. UNICEF also said that over 2.9 million children needed humanitarian assistance “to access lifesaving nutrition, health, education, water and sanitation, protection, and social protection services.”  The median household income per month in 2019 was 53,333 rupees ($177). Wickremesinghe allegedly used government funds for his personal use at a time of such severe crisis in the country.

Additionally, in 2023, Wickremesinghe postponed the local government election, stating that there was inadequate funding for elections. The “lack of funding,” however, didn’t stop him from apparently spending over $55,000 on a private trip to the UK. This shows that Wickremesinghe is not the reluctant stabilizer who saved Sri Lanka from collapse, as his fans claim, but a politician who insulated himself from accountability, while ordinary citizens bore the brunt of austerity.

Wickremesinghe has insisted that his expenses were covered privately, but the CID has presented evidence to show that the expenses were borne by the state. The CID told the court that the Presidential Secretariat spent 13.3 million rupees ($43,333) on the trip and the Sri Lankan Police and Navy spent about 3.3 million rupees ($11,000).

On August 22, Wickremesinghe’s lawyers requested bail, stating that the former president suffers from diabetes and heart disease. The Fort Magistrate’s Court disagreed, remanding him until August 26, though allowing him to be admitted to the prison hospital. He was released on bail on August 26.

Marlon Ariyasinghe, a columnist and doctoral candidate at Stanford University, told The Diplomat that the arrest caps a long and paradoxical career. Wickremesinghe entered Parliament in 1977, became United National Party (UNP) leader in the early 1990s, and went on to serve as Sri Lanka’s prime minister six times. Under his leadership, the UNP, once known as the grand old party of Sri Lanka, became a shell of its former self. In the 2020 general election, it was reduced to a single seat – his own – in Parliament. However, he became president in 2022, not by popular mandate but by Parliament’s vote after Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled amid mass protests.

“As president, Wickremesinghe pushed through painful reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and with this, he won plaudits from foreign governments and lenders. But at home, his legitimacy remained contested. Many viewed him as a Rajapaksa ally, propped up to protect the political dynasty from the full consequences of the Aragalaya protests,” Ariyasinghe said.

The courtroom drama that followed Wickremesinghe’s arrest has revealed another dimension of Sri Lanka’s political culture: the solidarity of the old elite. Former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and Namal Rajapaksa (Mahinda’s son) all made appearances in support of Wickremesinghe. These individuals, who have been bitter political rivals of Wickremesinghe for years, are now standing shoulder to shoulder in support of him, a pattern familiar to Sri Lankans.

Over the years, Sri Lankans have woken to the fact that when one member of the elite is under threat, the others rally around to protect the collective privilege they share. Sri Lankans believe that there are no ideological differences between these elites who are only interested in looking after their interests. This is why many Sri Lankans voted for the National People’s Power (NPP) in 2024 — a message that seems to have been lost on the old guard.

To an electorate that is weary of dynastic bargains and theatrical rivalries, the image of Wickremesinghe’s old adversaries showing up at court reinforces the sense that the traditional political class is out of touch with the new expectations of accountability.

For the ruling NPP government, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Wickremesinghe’s arrest offers an opportunity to project its commitment to the rule of law. “Whether it be a former IGP, former DIG, ministers, parliamentarians, or even a former president, it does not matter anymore,” Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said on the day of Wickremesinghe’s arrest. Dissanayake himself has repeatedly promised to re-establish the supremacy of the law and build a political culture where “no one dares to even think of accepting a bribe.” Deputy Foreign Minister Arun Hemachandra went further, drawing a stark line between official and private travel, and criticized Wickremesinghe for what he described as the “lavish misuse” of public money for a personal event.

The message was clear: the NPP intends to distance itself from a long tradition of indulgence and impunity in the use of state resources. Still, the credibility of this message will depend on consistency. If accountability is applied only to weakened rivals like Wickremesinghe but not to NPP allies, the government risks reproducing the very selective justice it condemns.

Wickremesinghe’s arrest places Sri Lanka within a broader global trend of prosecuting former heads of government. In South Korea, two former military dictators and several elected presidents have been convicted since the 1990s. In Peru, nearly every president of the past three decades has been accused of corruption, with several jailed or forced into exile. Even in advanced democracies like France and Italy, former leaders have faced trial for misuse of office. Comparative research shows that these prosecutions carry a dual legacy. On the one hand, they demonstrate that no leader is beyond the reach of the law, reinforcing the idea of equality before justice. On the other, they often unfold in highly politicized contexts, where partisan loyalties shape perceptions of fairness as we have seen with the arrests during the 2015-19 government of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.

This time, however, the circumstances are different. The NPP government remains popular and has so far allowed legal institutions to proceed without overt interference. Unlike in many other countries where prosecutions are seen as partisan vendettas, Wickremesinghe’s arrest has largely been accepted by the public as a demonstration that the law applies even to the highest office. At a time when faith in institutions has been badly eroded by years of corruption and crisis, this episode is more likely to strengthen belief in the rule of law than to deepen cynicism.

The fact that none of the embassies and high commissions have condemned the arrest of a man whose supporters insist is a darling of the West, shows the consensus among the diplomatic community that the proceedings are fair.

Wickremesinghe’s arrest shows the average Sri Lankan that once untouchable leaders can be brought before the law. To turn symbolism into substance, the NPP must continue its efforts to stamp out corruption across the political spectrum and strengthen its grassroots messaging to convince citizens that accountability is not revenge, but the foundation of a new political culture. If it succeeds, Sri Lanka could achieve what few fragile democracies have managed: a sustained break from elite impunity. If it fails, the old guard’s instinctive solidarity may yet blunt the NPP’s promise of change.

-Rathindra Kuruwita is a journalist and a researcher from Colombo, Sri Lanka. This article was originally featured on thediplomat.com

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