Jaffna District opposition MP Ramanathan Archchuna told the SLPP’s ‘Janasatana’ rally in Anuradhapura on Saturday that Namal Rajapaksa will win the 2029 presidential election, and warned that the country faces a return of the violence of 1988–89 because the NPP is attempting to bring the judiciary and Parliament under its control.

“I will say, whether you like it or not, in 2029, whatever is done, Mr Namal Rajapaksa will definitely become the President,” he said, according to Hiru News.

The Daily Mirror reported his warning that “the country will once again face the dark era of 88/89 in 2029 as the NPP was attempting to capture the judiciary and parliament under its control.”

A reversal

The Daily Mirror describes the speech as “a complete u-turn,” noting that Archchuna called Mahinda Rajapaksa the true leader of both the Tamil and Sinhalese people. Mahinda attended the rally, his most visible appearance of the campaign.

Archchuna said he was born in the North and had lived there for 40 years, and that he has always stood together with Sinhalese people. He said he would support Namal Rajapaksa in order to unite the North and the South, Hiru reported.

He went further in the Daily Mirror’s account, saying the Tamil diaspora had funded billions in cash to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to make him leader, and that Tamil people now regret the decision.

“Today I have come here to convey a message from my Tamil people and the Tamil diaspora. They have told me to tell all you Sinhalese people that they will always live in unity with the Sinhalese and that they were misled by Anura Kumara Dissanayake. I being a Tiger am telling all you Sinhalese that you’ll have elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake who is a cunning fox,” he said.

He also made an allegation about the Speaker’s chambers, saying MPs were afraid to go in because of what they might see: “Sometimes there is a PHI feeding the Speaker or vice versa. We are afraid of what we might see if we enter his chambers.” The remark is reported without explanation, and neither outlet says what he was referring to.

The cases against him

Archchuna said the government has filed cases against him on false allegations — 29 of them, according to Hiru — and that this is his first time in politics. He said trust placed in previous governments had been broken.

The Daily Mirror reports the same complaint without the number.

He has made the prediction before

This is not a new call. Archchuna predicted in June that Namal Rajapaksa would contest the 2029 presidential election. Saturday’s version goes further — from contesting to winning — and was delivered from an SLPP platform rather than as an outside observation.

He staked his own record on it, saying he has “a black tongue” and had correctly predicted Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s victory.

The speech lands while Namal Rajapaksa is in remand custody and has been named as a suspect by the Attorney General and CID in the Airbus bribery file.

Update (September 14): a CID complaint over the “Tiger” remark

A complaint has been lodged with the Criminal Investigation Department over the alleged promotion of the LTTE at the rally, the Daily Mirror reported on Monday evening.

Police Spokesman ASP F.U. Wootler confirmed the complaint was lodged by a group of civil society members calling itself the “joint opposition,” following allegations that statements made during the rally amounted to promoting or supporting the LTTE — which remains a proscribed organisation in Sri Lanka.

The complaint follows concerns the opposition raised on Sunday about remarks made from the platform, where Wimal Weerawansa and Archchuna Ramanathan were among those present. The Daily Mirror ties the complaint directly to Archchuna’s description of himself as a “Tiger” and his characterisation of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake as a fox.

The reaction inside the SLPP is part of the story. The Daily Mirror reports that the moment “came as a surprise even to SLPP supporters who have long been critical of any reference to the LTTE,” and that SLPP politicians were seen cheering when the LTTE was mentioned on stage in Anuradhapura. That is the paper’s own characterisation, and it is the sharpest account yet of how the remark landed with the party’s own base.

This is a complaint, not a charge. No investigation has been announced, no one has been named as a suspect, and nothing in either report indicates the CID has acted on it.

Neither the Hiru News nor NewsFirst listings carried the complaint at the time of writing, and Ada Derana’s site was returning a CloudFront error, so this rests on the Daily Mirror alone.

What is not said: who the “joint opposition” civil society group is or who leads it, which specific statements the complaint identifies, what offence is alleged, whether the complaint names Archchuna, Weerawansa or the SLPP as an organisation, and whether the CID has opened a file. Neither Archchuna nor the SLPP has responded. (The last of these is answered by the September 15 update below.)

Update (September 15): the complaint is referred to the Counter Terrorism division

The complaint has been referred to the Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division for further inquiry on the instructions of the Inspector General of Police, NewsFirst reported on Tuesday.

That is a material escalation from Monday’s position. A complaint sitting with the CID has now been moved to the unit that handles terrorism investigations, and the referral was made at the level of the IGP rather than by a divisional officer. NewsFirst says the complaint alleges a banned terrorist organisation was promoted during the gathering.

NewsFirst also gives the mechanics the Daily Mirror did not: a delegation representing the Joint Opposition went to Police Headquarters on Monday (14) and handed the complaint to the Inspector General of Police in person, asking for an investigation into statements and activities said to have occurred at the meeting. The rally is dated to 12 September in NewsFirst’s account, matching the Janasatana event.

The two reports frame the recipient differently

The Daily Mirror said the complaint was lodged with the CID; NewsFirst says it was handed to the IGP, who directed it to the Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division. These are consistent if the complaint reached the IGP and was routed onward, but neither outlet states the sequence, and neither says whether the CID retains any part of the matter.

This remains a complaint under inquiry, not a charge. No suspect has been named, no arrest has been made, and no offence has been formally alleged against any individual. Neither report says whether Archchuna, who described himself from the platform as “a Tiger”, is the subject of the inquiry.

Still unanswered

Neither outlet identifies the members of the Joint Opposition delegation, states what statute the inquiry proceeds under — the Prevention of Terrorism Act or the ordinary law — or gives a timeline. There is no response from Archchuna, Weerawansa, the SLPP or the Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division, and no indication of whether anyone has been called for a statement. (The first of these is answered by the September 17 update below.)

The Government has rejected Archchuna’s claim that the Tamil diaspora funded the NPP’s election campaign, and said it will take legal action against him over it.

Cabinet Spokesman Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said legal action would be taken against the MP over what he described as false statements, the Daily Mirror reported. Asked about the remarks at the Anuradhapura rally, Jayatissa said complaints had been lodged with the Police and the Criminal Investigation Department and that investigations would be conducted.

This is the first response from the Government to any of the allegations made from the platform, and it answers the question flagged below: the NPP denies the funding claim outright. Jayatissa did not address Archchuna’s separate remarks about the Speaker’s chambers, and the report gives no evidence offered on either side of the funding claim.

The Daily Mirror names the unit differently

The Daily Mirror also reported the referral independently, and its account differs from NewsFirst’s on one point. It says the complaint has been handed to the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), where NewsFirst says the Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division. Police Spokesman ASP F.U. Wootler said the Inspector General of Police had directed the handover, according to the Daily Mirror.

Both accounts agree the IGP made the direction and that the matter has moved to a terrorism unit; they do not agree on that unit’s name, and neither outlet acknowledges the other’s version. The Daily Mirror describes the complainants as “a group of civil society members identifying themselves as the ‘Joint Opposition’,” matching NewsFirst’s account of a Joint Opposition delegation.

The Daily Mirror adds that some SLPP supporters were seen cheering when the LTTE was mentioned from the stage, while the remarks “reportedly surprised even some SLPP supporters, who have long been critical of references to the LTTE.”

This remains a complaint under inquiry. No suspect has been named and no arrest has been made.

Update (16 September): special teams appointed, inquiries under way

Special teams from the Counter Terrorism Investigation Division have now been appointed to investigate the remarks, and have begun inquiries, NewsFirst reported on Wednesday afternoon. Police confirmed the investigation team has commenced work.

The report moves the matter from a referral to an active inquiry, but adds nothing on its scope. It repeats that the referral followed a complaint by the Joint Opposition and was launched on the Inspector General of Police’s instructions.

NewsFirst again uses Counter Terrorism Investigation Division, its third filing to do so, against the Daily Mirror’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID). Neither outlet has acknowledged the other’s naming, and the unit remains unresolved in the reporting. NewsFirst does not say how many officers the special teams comprise, under what statute the inquiry proceeds, whether Archchuna has been contacted or summoned, or when any findings are expected. Still no suspect named, and still no arrest.

Update (September 17): “I’m a Tiger but not an LTTE Tiger”

Archchuna has responded publicly for the first time since the inquiry was announced, the Daily Mirror reported on Thursday night. He does not retract the remark. He defends it, and separately denies a phrase he says was attributed to him.

On the word “tiger”, he concedes and defends. “If someone asks me whether I am a tiger, I accept it. My favourite animal is the tiger. Some people like elephants and some like snakes; I like tigers,” he said, adding that his own mobile phone background image is a tiger. His argument is one of symmetry: “Sinhala people say they are lions. We never say that saying ‘lion’ is wrong.”

He rejects the inference drawn from it: “Do you think I use the LTTE tiger logo, join the LTTE and think about taking up weapons again? I am not like that.”

On “Tiger diaspora”, he denies ever saying it. “I never said the word ‘Tiger diaspora’. I only said diaspora. Our President may not understand English,” he said. He says the term as he used it covers Sri Lankan Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese living overseas, and that his point concerned money: “The country received funds for rebuilding Sri Lanka. Those funds were received from the diaspora. That was why I said the government took money from the diaspora and is deceiving us.”

The denial and the complaint are not about the same words

This is worth setting against what was actually reported from the platform. Neither of the two accounts of the speech carried here on 12 September attributes the phrase “Tiger diaspora” to him. The Daily Mirror’s own report of the rally quoted him saying “I being a Tiger” and describing the Tamil diaspora as having funded the President — two separate uses, not a compound phrase. And when the Daily Mirror reported the CID complaint on 14 September, it tied it to his self-description as a “Tiger” and his characterisation of the President as a fox.

So the phrase he denies is not the one the reporting attributed to him, and the remark that prompted the complaint is the one he has now confirmed and defended. Whether “Tiger diaspora” was put to him by an interviewer, circulated separately, or appeared in coverage we have not seen, the Daily Mirror does not say — it reports the denial without establishing who made the claim.

An offer to attend, and a challenge to the government

Archchuna said he is not afraid of being questioned or arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and would cooperate if summoned by the Terrorism Investigation Division — the first indication from any party of how a summons would be received, though none has been reported as issued.

“If I am told to report to the TID, I can come there wearing slippers, shorts and a T-shirt,” he said. “I request the TID to send me the location through WhatsApp. I will be there. There is no need to chase me and catch me.”

He put his professional record in the argument, saying he has practised as a doctor for 40 years including at Kalubowila and Peradeniya hospitals: “If I represented the LTTE, I would not have been able to provide medicine to Sinhala people.”

The rest is counter-attack. He urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to pursue major cases rather than “small people,” naming former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran in connection with the bond controversy, and referred to former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella over allegations concerning substandard medicines.

He closed on his own position: “I requested people to vote for this government. Now I also feel ashamed that I asked them to do so.”

Still a complaint, and still Daily Mirror alone

Nothing here changes the status of the matter. No suspect has been named, no summons has been reported, and no offence has been formally alleged against anyone. The Daily Mirror does not say where or in what setting Archchuna made these remarks, whether he was responding to questions, or whether the TID has contacted him. No other verified newsroom had carried his response at the time of writing, and neither the TID, the police nor the government has answered any of it.

Not reported

Neither outlet reports any response from the Speaker’s office or the President’s office to any of the allegations, and no outlet reports a response from Archchuna to the Government’s denial or to the threat of legal action. Neither says what legal action is contemplated, under what law, or whether it is connected to the terrorism referral. Neither gives any basis for the claim that the Tamil diaspora funded the President’s campaign “in billions,” and neither says which cases make up the 29 Archchuna cites, what they charge, or their status.

Neither explains the reference to a Public Health Inspector in the Speaker’s chambers, and neither asks how Archchuna’s position squares with his own description of himself as “a Tiger,” a characterisation he has used before and which drew calls for his arrest in May.

A note on the name: the Daily Mirror writes him as Archuna Ramanathan, Hiru News as Ramanathan Archchuna. Both name orders appear in Sri Lankan reporting on him.

Sources