SLPP Jaffna District Organiser Geethanath Cassilingam has questioned the use of Section 149 against Namal Rajapaksa, arguing that any misuse of legal provisions against political opponents would pose a serious threat to democracy.

Cassilingam told the Daily Mirror that the government’s repeated announcements about arresting corrupt politicians risk becoming a political spectacle that distracts from its own record, two years into President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s term.

“People elected this government expecting meaningful change, better living conditions and economic relief. Two years on, they have every right to ask what has been achieved beyond repeated announcements about bringing the corrupt to justice.”

He said the public was increasingly concerned about the gap between the National People’s Power’s promises and what it has delivered, while the cost of living continued to press on ordinary households.

“The government cannot hide behind a weekly show of arrests and promises that the corrupt will be put behind bars. It must demonstrate what it has done for the people and answer for the commitments it has failed to fulfil.”

Cassilingam called on the President and the government to uphold due process and ensure opposition politicians can question decisions and conduct political activity without intimidation. Portraying Rajapaksa as a villain, he said, would neither resolve public grievances nor shield the government from scrutiny. He argued that while some young politicians have stayed silent, Rajapaksa’s continued criticism has kept attention on the government’s record — and that the NPP cannot rely indefinitely on its anti-corruption campaign to deflect criticism.

What Section 149 actually is

The Daily Mirror describes the provision as belonging to “the bribery law.” It is Section 149 of the Anti-Corruption Act, and this desk’s own earlier reporting sets out why it matters to Rajapaksa specifically.

He has been produced under that section — on a certificate issued by CIABOC’s Director General — in both the Airbus-linked Rs 100 million bribery case and the Krrish transaction case. The section’s practical effect is the point Cassilingam is pressing: where it applies, special circumstances must be shown before bail can be granted, which is the reason magistrates have given for keeping him in custody.

The objection is not new, and it has not come only from his own party. In September, Transparency International Sri Lanka told the Supreme Court that the provision as drafted would make “bail the exception and remand the norm,” calling it vague and overbroad.

Rajapaksa has been in remand custody since the first week of September and marked his 50th day on Saturday.

The headline’s other half is not in the report

The Daily Mirror headlines the interview “PTA for national security, section 149 for Anti-Corruption: Are both being applied fairly?” — but the published text does not mention the Prevention of Terrorism Act at all. No part of the report sets out what Cassilingam said about the PTA, or what comparison he was drawing between the two statutes. The juxtaposition is the headline’s; the body supports only the Section 149 argument.

Not reported

The report carries no government or NPP response to any of Cassilingam’s allegations, and no comment from CIABOC. It does not say when or where the interview was given, name the “young politicians” he describes as silent, or cite figures for the arrests he characterises as a weekly show.

Sourcing note

The Daily Mirror is the only verified newsroom to have filed on these remarks at the time of writing; a search of Ada Derana, NewsFirst, Hiru, EconomyNext, Daily FT, the Island and Colombo Gazette returned no independent account. Cassilingam, who was appointed to the Jaffna organiser’s post under Mahinda Rajapaksa, has given the Daily Mirror framing interviews for SLPP campaigns before. The outlet spells his name both “Cassilingam” and “Cassilingham” across its own filings; this archive uses the former for consistency.