How do you solve a problem like Ranil?

Opinion
By Editor_1
Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe is escorted by prison and police officials as he leaves the Magistrate’s Court in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on August 23, 2025 - Reuters

By Kassapa

The dust is still settling on the drama surrounding the interrogation, arrest, refusal of bail, remanding into custody and eventually granting bail to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Almost compelled to act, the collective opposition offered a knee-jerk reaction to these events, while the government didn’t yield. Who emerged better off? That question merits a deeper look, considering the consequences that might follow.

The government maintains it was only acting according to its mandate, that of holding the corrupt accountable for their actions. It claims the investigation was conducted by an independent police force and Wickremesinghe was produced before an impartial Magistrate who made her own decision based on the facts presented to her. Indeed, at the first hearing, Wickremesinghe was denied bail, but on the second hearing, upon receipt of more medical evidence, he was granted bail.

Let us not be naïve, though. In March this year, Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayake told Parliament of the alleged offence, claiming Wickremesinghe had misused public funds for what was essentially a private visit to the United Kingdom. The subsequent complaint to the Criminal Investigations Department  (CID) originated from officials in the Presidential Secretariat, based on their internal investigations. So, there was clearly a government hand at play, at least in initiating this investigation, even if there was no interference thereafter, and the CID was allowed to do its work impartially.

Based on the evidence presented to the court thus far, there appears to be a prima facie case against Wickremesinghe. The excuses offered by the defence – that the invitation from Wolverhampton University was channelled through the Sri Lankan High Commission in London and that any action by a sitting president must be considered ‘official’- are flimsy. There also appears to be an attempt to ‘convert’ what was initially listed as a ‘private’ visit to an official one. The courts will have the final say on these matters, but Wickremesinghe appears to be skating on thin ice here.

That does not really matter because Wickremesinghe is now a spent force, politically. If anything, this was reinforced by his lawyers painting the image of a frail, very ill individual, unless, of course, that was done with the intention of winning the sympathy of the court to get bail.

What matters more is the stance the opposition took. Their initial response was to summon a media briefing where an assorted array of disparate politicians – Maithripala Sirisena, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Namal Rajapaksa, G.L. Peiris, Champika Ranawaka, Thalatha Atukorale, Dayasiri Jayasekara and Mano Ganesan, to name just a few – sat at the same table and condemned Wickremesinghe being sent to remand prison.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was conspicuous by his absence. It was made to understand that Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) parliamentarian Kavinda Jayawardena was present only in a personal capacity. Premadasa instead took to social media, criticizing a popular social media personality for forecasting Wickremesinghe’s detention on his YouTube channel.

The sentiments expressed by the group were as diverse as the group itself. The banner behind the motley crowd said ‘constitutional dictatorship’, but most spoke of Wickremesinghe’s achievements, his age, the sense of ingratitude in detaining him after all he has done for the country and how he is being detained for a ‘minor’ offence. This was political revenge at its worst, they said and warned of the death of democracy and the march towards a ‘one-party’ state.

There was hardly any comment on the facts of the case. Even the erstwhile Professor of Law, G.L. Peiris, could only offer the letter of invitation sent to Wickremesinghe and the fact that the news was reported in the Indian media as evidence that this was an official visit!

The briefing concluded with a call to the public to ‘come to Colombo’ on August 26, when the case would be taken up next. A small crowd did turn up, consisting of die-hard United National Party (UNP) loyalists, but only reinforced the belief that the party was trying to influence the court.

Perhaps inadvertently, Dayasiri Jayasekara hit the nail on the head when he said that this was a battle between the ‘elite and the non-elite’. It certainly is. The government would embrace that definition. It rode into power with a massive mandate to eliminate corruption and punish those responsible. A few months into its term, the public was grumbling that it was not doing so. Now, it has at least one big fish to show as their prized catch.

It is true that there may have been an element of political triggering in this complaint. It is equally true that, in the grand scheme of acts of corruption committed in this country, Rs 16.6 million is peanuts by comparison. It may also be a concern that a 76-year-old former Head of State is being dragged through this ignominy, instead of allowing him to retire gracefully. None of that, though, will withstand scrutiny in a court of law. This may therefore not be the government’s finest hour, but it will take whatever plaudits it gets from Wickremesinghe’s prosecution, along with the brickbats.

The opposition, on the other hand, has now painted itself into a corner. It is openly saying that applying the rule of law regardless of one’s station in life is a travesty of justice and that the privileged political elite should be untouchable, just as they have been for all these decades. Does it seriously believe that the public will support such a narrative?

Then, there is the call for the opposition to unite. They have united to the extent of sitting at one table, that too barring Premadasa. Come the next election, they will again go their separate ways and start fighting with each other because there is no charismatic individual who is unanimously endorsed by the rest of them to take on the government.   

The other chilling message the government delivered last week is that no one – not even an ex-president – is immune from prosecution now. If it can take on Ranil Wickremesinghe, it can take on anyone else. There will be quite a few self-proclaimed presidential candidates wondering whether they are next on the list. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe may have been granted bail. The opposition will be hopelessly mistaken to regard that as a victory. Instead, they should retain the services of some clever lawyers now. 

-counterpoint.lk

Editor_1
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