A political firestorm has erupted after Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila filed a sensational complaint with the Bribery Commission, accusing the National People’s Power of misusing millions in public funds by funneling MPs’ allowances into party coffers.
The controversy erupted on September 29 when Gammanpila walked into the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption with a dossier he claims proves systematic abuse by the ruling National People’s Power (NPP). According to him, the scheme involves 159 parliamentarians, including the President, who collectively rake in over Rs. 30 million per month in state-paid salaries and allowances, only to deposit them into the party’s central fund controlled by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.
Gammanpila’s complaint cites statements by NPP MP Devananda Suraweera, who openly admitted that all parliamentary salaries and allowances are pooled into the JVP fund and redistributed as personal allowances. Gammanpila argues this violates the law, as allowances like the Rs. 100,000 office allowance, Rs. 103,000 fuel allowance, Rs. 50,000 telephone allowance, and other constituency-specific benefits are meant strictly for public service, not party funding.
The April 2024 salary slip shows an MP receiving Rs. 340,785 in total, but only Rs. 71,285 of that could legally be donated to a party fund. The rest, Gammanpila claims, is taxpayer money earmarked for running offices, meeting constituents, travel, communication, and public entertainment. Using these allowances for political campaigning, he says, amounts to corruption and misuse of public funds.
Adding further weight, Gammanpila alleges that none of these allowances appear in the asset declarations of NPP parliamentarians or the President. Under the Anti-Corruption Act, failure to declare such income could lead to penalties of Rs. 200,000 and even one year’s imprisonment.
Speaking to reporters outside the Bribery Commission, Gammanpila declared, “This is not just mismanagement, this is institutionalized corruption. If a former president can be investigated for misusing state funds, then the law must also apply to the NPP leadership.”
The Bribery Commission has yet to announce whether it will launch a formal probe, but the complaint has sent shockwaves through the political landscape. Critics argue that if proven, the scandal could undermine NPP’s claims of clean governance and transparency, striking at the very heart of its credibility.
