The government has rejected an opposition request for a one-day parliamentary debate on the $2.5 million Treasury cyber heist that misdirected a foreign debt installment to cybercriminals, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Gayantha Karunathilaka said on Monday.
Karunathilaka told a media briefing that a party leaders’ meeting chaired by the Speaker was convened earlier in the day to set the parliamentary agenda for the week beginning May 5. During the meeting, the opposition formally asked for a one-day debate on the controversial financial transaction at the Ministry of Finance.
“Despite repeated appeals, the government rejected the request,” the MP said.
The decision blocks one of the principal accountability levers the opposition has been pursuing on the heist, alongside SJB leader Sajith Premadasa’s call for a Parliamentary Select Committee inquiry and the Free Lawyers Forum’s 22 questions to the President demanding the resignation of Finance Secretary K.M. Mahinda Siriwardana.
The $2.5 million payment was a debt installment due to the Australian Export Finance Agency that was rerouted to a fraudulent account after attackers compromised the email channel between Treasury and the foreign creditor. Five Treasury officials have been interdicted pending the investigation, and the CID is examining devices belonging to External Resources Department staff after documents relating to a French loan repayment went missing — pointing investigators toward a possible second fraud vector.
Civic groups including Sarvajana Balaya, the SLPP and Aragalaye Purawesiyo held simultaneous street protests at the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank earlier in the day, demanding accountability for the heist.
