The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna has called the arrest and remand of its National Organiser, MP Namal Rajapaksa, a “serious attack” on the country’s democratic process and an act of political retaliation by the government.

The statement was issued on Saturday under the signature of SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, an attorney-at-law, Ada Derana reported. Rajapaksa was remanded until 18 September on Friday over an alleged Rs. 100 million bribe connected to SriLankan Airlines’ purchase of Airbus aircraft.

The party said it “categorically rejects” all the allegations, which it called baseless and politically motivated.

The argument: an anti-corruption body turned into a weapon

Kariyawasam said the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption was created with extensive powers to root out corruption, “and not to use it as a weapon for politics.” He added that if independent state institutions are used as a tool for political threats, “all citizens who respect the country and its democracy should pay close attention.”

Hiru News reported a further line of argument that Ada Derana’s account does not carry: that the anti-corruption laws introduced while the SLPP was in government were meant to fight corruption, not to let state institutions be used against political opponents.

The rally is the party’s stated motive

Both reports put the September 12 rally at the centre of the SLPP’s case. The party said the government moved against Rajapaksa because it had learned that a large crowd was expected at a public rally planned for Anuradhapura on 12 September, organised under his leadership.

The rally will go ahead as planned, the party said, and be held “with even greater strength.” It called on supporters to gather in Anuradhapura and peacefully register their opposition to what it described as the government’s anti-democratic conduct.

The unnamed witness in Australia

Hiru reported the SLPP’s claim that the arrest rests on an unreliable statement obtained in Australia from an individual facing criminal allegations, who the party says has previously given contradictory statements to police and courts on several occasions.

The party does not name him. The description matches Nimal Perera, the businessman whose affidavit underpins the prosecution case. As reported at Friday’s remand hearing, investigators travelled to Australia — where Perera now lives — and recorded a statement from him after he refused to return to Sri Lanka, citing death threats. Perera is himself named a suspect, and Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara told court the investigation had reached its final stage with the assistance of Australia, Singapore, France and the United States.

The SLPP’s line closely tracks the credibility attack Rajapaksa’s own defence made in court on Friday, which cited a discrepancy with a 2019 statement Perera gave the CID.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is more careful than his party

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited the New Magazine Prison in Borella on Saturday evening to check on his son, NewsFirst reported at 9.55 p.m.

Speaking afterwards, he said it cannot be stated with certainty whether the arrest and remand amount to political revenge — a markedly more guarded formulation than the flat assertion in his party’s own statement hours earlier. He said steps would be taken to secure bail.

Neither report explains the gap, and no outlet has put the difference to either the former President or the party.

Update: September 6 — the JVP answers, without naming Namal Rajapaksa

The government side replied a day later. Tilvin Silva, General Secretary of the JVP, told an NPP rally at Bulathsinhala on Sunday that anyone found guilty of misappropriating public funds must go to prison regardless of political affiliation, the Daily Mirror reported.

He rejected the allegation that the government is targeting political opponents or undermining democratic principles — the SLPP’s central charge above.

“We are not harassing anyone. But, if you have stolen, you will have to go to prison. There’s nothing we can do about that. Whether it’s a former President, a former Minister or whoever’s son it is doesn’t matter to us. If someone has committed an offence, the law will be enforced.”

The phrasing tracks the Rajapaksa family without naming it — “a former President,” “a former Minister,” “whoever’s son” — leaving the rebuttal deniable as a general statement of principle. Silva said the public had elected the government expecting a change in political culture and firm action against fraud and corruption.

Speaking at the same rally, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake made the government’s other answer to the political-revenge charge: that a court backlog of cases unresolved for 15 to 20 years, now being cleared, is what accounts for the pace of arrests. “If there had been no backlog of cases, there would not be this many arrests,” he said — reported as part of his 22nd Amendment remarks.

Neither man referred to the SLPP statement directly, and neither addressed the party’s specific claim about the reliability of the witness statement taken in Australia.

Not reported

CIABOC had not responded to the SLPP’s statement at the time of writing, and the government’s reply came in rally speeches rather than a formal response. It is not reported when a bail application will be filed or before which court, whether police will impose conditions on the September 12 rally, or whether Perera has answered either the defence’s or the party’s characterisation of his evidence. The statement does not say whether the SLPP will mount a legal challenge to the arrest itself.

Sources