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Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has expressed astonishment at the unprecedented speed with which the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption issued him a summons, following a recent public statement he made.
In a statement released by his office, Wickremesinghe noted the remarkable efficiency with which the Bribery Commission acted, assembling necessary documents and issuing a summons in what he described as an “amazingly short” period. The former President pointed out that his statement was first aired by the media at 6:00 p.m. on April 10, and that no commission officers were known to be working after hours that evening.
Yet, by 12:30 p.m. the following day (April 11), Wickremesinghe’s office had received an official letter from the Commission summoning him for questioning. The letter cited an order from the Commission itself and requested the former head of state to appear in person.
According to the timeline presented, less than 18 hours had elapsed from the time of the media broadcast to the receipt of the summons. Considering non-working hours, Wickremesinghe emphasized that the Commission completed all necessary internal processes—including file preparation, forwarding documents to the Director General, and issuing an official order—within approximately three working hours.
He referred to the Commission’s actions as record-breaking in terms of speed, asserting that the institution has never before responded with such haste.
The summons date, however, falls during the Sinhala-Hindu New Year holiday period. As neither the former President nor his legal team will be in Colombo during this time, they will be submitting a formal request for a new date to appear before the Commission.
Wickremesinghe’s remarks suggest concern over what he perceives as unusual urgency by the Bribery Commission, especially given the politically sensitive timing and context.
