Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said on Monday that the government is preparing to violate the civil and democratic rights of citizens in the name of national security and the prevention of organised crime.
Strong laws are needed both to secure national security and to prevent organised crime, he said, but those laws should not be used to restrict people’s fundamental rights, Hiru News reported.
The remarks came at a ceremony at the Karampathara Sri Abhayarajarama temple in the Kalutara district, held to hand over paint for work on the temple building. The event was organised to mark the birthday of his mother, Hema Premadasa.
The argument against the two Bills
Premadasa alleged that through the Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill and the Prevention of Organised Crime Bill, the government is seeking to reduce the powers of the judiciary and increase the powers of the executive.
That shift, he argued, would create the opportunity to name groups holding opposing views as terrorists, opening the way to political revenge and the hunting down of opponents.
He also said such repressive legislation is being brought to control the frustration building among the public, and the public uprisings arising from it, after the government proved unable to deliver the promises it made at the election.
On the economy, Premadasa said the government has no clear programme for debt repayment from 2028, that development is needed across every sector to meet those repayments, and that the government has failed to provide the basic facilities industrial operators need to keep factories running.
Religion and the Sangha
Recalling that the Constitution is the supreme law of the country, Premadasa said it is the government’s responsibility both to give Buddhism the foremost place and to protect and nurture the Buddha Sasana, and equally to protect other religions and cultures.
He added that no party — the executive included — has any right to intervene in matters belonging to the Sangha Sabhas, the chapter assemblies that govern monastic affairs.
That remark lands the same week as a dispute over monastic discipline. The Kotte Sangha Sabha has written to the Commissioner General of Prisons over the status of the robes of the jailed monk Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, a matter this desk reported earlier on Monday.
Where the Bills stand
The timing is pointed. On the same day, the Supreme Court concluded its hearing of the petitions challenging the Prevention of Organised Crime Bill and said its determination would be communicated to the Speaker and the President. During those proceedings the Attorney General told the court the government would amend the Bill, removing excise offences entirely and reducing the detention period from 72 to 48 hours, among other changes.
Twenty-six petitions were filed against that Bill. The President said last week that the two Bills would not be rushed through Parliament and that public consultation would follow, and the Organised Crime Bill has also drawn a communication from United Nations special rapporteurs.
Not reported
Hiru’s account carries no government response to the allegations, and does not say whether Premadasa was referring to the Bills as originally gazetted or as amended in the Attorney General’s submissions earlier the same day. No specific clause is identified in support of the claim that opponents could be designated terrorists.
A note on sourcing. This report rests on a single verified newsroom. Premadasa has made closely similar statements at temple events in other districts in recent weeks — including one on 2 November at a temple in Polonnaruwa carrying nearly identical wording about judicial authority, executive power and monks’ robes. Those are separate occasions, and the account above is confined to what was said in Kalutara on 9 November.
