The government has mounted a coordinated defence of former Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody, with Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath declaring at a special media briefing on Thursday that no investigation has found Jayakody involved in any corruption related to substandard coal imports.
“No investigation has confirmed that former Minister of Energy Kumara Jayakody was involved in any corruption,” Herath said, citing the Auditor General’s report and the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprise (COPE) as having cleared Jayakody of wrongdoing.
Voluntary Resignation Framing
The government’s message was clear: Jayakody’s resignation — which came just one week after he survived a no-confidence motion 153-49 — was a voluntary act of integrity to ensure transparent proceedings, not an admission of guilt.
Herath noted that during the NCM debate in Parliament, “no views expressed referred to corruption linked to Jayakody.”
Dual Investigations
The minister confirmed that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into coal procurement and the CID’s separate probe would not conflict with each other. He urged the public, media, and opposition MPs with information about coal import irregularities to contact the Presidential Commission directly.
Herath’s role as cross-portfolio spokesperson on the coal issue — despite being the Foreign Affairs Minister — continues the pattern of the government deploying him as its public-facing voice on politically sensitive matters, keeping distance between the Energy portfolio and ongoing probes.
The opposition has demanded accountability on the coal scandal, with both the SJB and SLPP calling for criminal prosecution of those responsible for substandard imports that cost consumers billions in excess electricity generation costs.
