Public funds totalling Rs. 26,278,052 have been spent supporting the family of the late Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) founder Rohana Wijeweera since his death, Parliament has been told.
The figure was disclosed in the government’s written answer to a question raised by Opposition MP Ajith P. Perera. According to the response, the state originally provided the funds to support Wijeweera’s widow, Chithrangani Wijeweera, and their six children.
The government said that at present it continues to support Ms. Wijeweera and her eldest daughter, who has special needs.
Wijeweera founded the JVP and led two insurrections against the state before he was killed in 1989. Successive governments have since extended financial assistance to his surviving family members, though the scale of that spending had not previously been laid out in detail.
The disclosure adds fresh figures to a long-running question over state expenditure on behalf of the family of the party’s founder. The JVP is now the lead constituent of the ruling National People’s Power coalition, giving the decades-old arrangement renewed political relevance.
The government’s answer did not indicate whether the current level of support would continue or be reviewed.
