Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila claims President Anura Dissanayake is guilty of the same alleged misuse of public funds as Ranil Wickremesinghe, but thanks to presidential immunity, charges will only come knocking once he leaves office.
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila has claimed that the same charges which led to the arrest of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe can also be applied to the current President, Anura Dissanayake.
Releasing a video on social media, Gammanpila alleged that President Dissanayake’s recent official trip to Germany amounted to a misuse of public funds. He argued that the visit had no real value, noting that while the official head of government in Germany is the Chancellor, Dissanayake did not meet him. Instead, he met the German President, whom Gammanpila dismissed as a ceremonial figure without decision-making power.
According to Gammanpila, the only meeting of substance during the visit was with the German Foreign Minister. He questioned the necessity of Sri Lanka’s head of state traveling across continents merely to meet with a foreign minister, suggesting the trip was an expensive exercise in vanity rather than diplomacy.
He went on to allege that public funds were misused in another instance as well. Gammanpila claimed that the use of state vehicles and security personnel to attend to the President’s mother while she was receiving treatment at the Anuradhapura Hospital was also a violation of the principles governing public expenditure.
“These are the exact same types of charges that have been levelled against Ranil Wickremesinghe,” Gammanpila said, adding that the difference lies only in timing. He noted that as the sitting President, Anura Dissanayake is shielded by constitutional immunity, meaning no legal case can be filed against him at present.
However, Gammanpila warned that this immunity is temporary. “Once he leaves office, the same laws that trapped Ranil will be waiting for Anura as well,” he said, predicting that Dissanayake too will face charges of misusing state funds.
Gammanpila’s remarks add another explosive layer to Sri Lanka’s unfolding political drama, highlighting that the legal sword hanging over Ranil Wickremesinghe could one day swing toward the current President.
