L board Government” on display

 The “L Board” Government has been laid bare before the people, in the space of just over two weeks it is estimated that mismanagement by the government has cost the public as much as Rs. 1.5 billion

“When the National People’s Party (NPP) contested the General Election in 2024, they were labelled by political opponents as a “L Board Government”. This was a direct attack on the lack of experience and absence of policy among the NPP and their members.

Eighteen (18) months later and the title of “L Board government” appears to have proven true, with the President and his Cabinet coming under increasing scrutiny and criticism over the growing mistakes and ineptitude demonstrated by its members. The post Avuruddu (Sinhala and Tamil New Year) weeks have been telling on a Government that has struggled to gain any momentum.

It was during the third week of April, shortly after the Government and Parliament reconvened after the holidays, that news emerged that a sum of $2.5 million had been stolen from the Treasury. Initial reports suggested that the Treasury had been a victim of a hack, subsequently it was announced that it was a less sophisticated theft, with Treasury officials being a victim of an email phishing scam. Further details arose highlighting that the theft had taken place over a period of ten separate payments commencing in November 2025. This raises several questions; 1. How did ten separate payments be made to the wrong account without any Treasury official raising concerns? 2. Why was it only in April 2026, following the news being leaked, that the Government informed the public of this theft? 3. Did the intended foreign recipient of these payments inform the Treasury when the first payment was not received, and if so why were the remaining payments allowed to proceed?

As per Articles 148-152 of the Constitution, it is clearly stated that “Parliament shall have full control over public finance”. So not only has this Government allowed for the theft of public funds from the Treasury, but they also failed to carry out their Constitutional duty and inform Parliament about this breach of security.

The mismanagement by the Government does not end there. A week after the news leaked about the $2.5 million theft, fresh reports emerged that a separate payment of $625,000/- from Sri Lanka post to U.S. Post had gone missing. Once again the authorities confirmed that this was also a result of a phishing scheme over a period of several payments. The question is whether Sri Lanka Post had been informed by U.S. Post that these payments had not been received, and if so why did the payments continue. More importantly, once again there was a delay by the Government in informing the Parliament about this theft.

The President, who is also the Minister of Finance, and the Secretary to the Treasury (ST), who was a NPP Member of Parliament before he resigned to take up the post of ST, must be held accountable by Parliament for this mismanagement. The onus is now on the Opposition, although weakened, to push forward and ensure accountability is upheld

It only got worse for the Government last week when Members of the Opposition highlighted that the Road Development Authority (RDA) had made “duplicate payments” to contractors. It was alleged that over Rs. 253 million had been made in duplicate payments to contractors, this was confirmed when Bank of Ceylon issued a “recall of funds” notice. While the RDA initially denied such payments, the Cabinet Spokesperson admitted that such payments had been made and efforts were underway to recover the funds.

As pressure grew on the Government over their mismanagement, the news that a portion of Aswesuma beneficiaries were recipients of double payments for the month of April was reported. According to the Free Lawyers an additional sum of Rs. 500 million had been paid to these beneficiaries. The relevant line Ministry has responded, claiming that 50,000 individuals had received the double payments, totalling Rs. 248.8 million. However, the inability of this Government to ensure an unhindered process of payments takes place is certainly a cause for concern.

The “L Board” Government has been laid bare before the people, in the space of just over two weeks it has emerged that mismanagement by the Government has cost the public as much as Rs. 1.5 billion, with the Opposition alleging that the amount is far higher.

The President, who is also the Minister of Finance, and the Secretary to the Treasury (ST), who was a NPP Member of Parliament before he resigned to take up the post of ST, must be held accountable by Parliament for this mismanagement. The onus is now on the Opposition, although weakened, to push forward and ensure accountability is upheld.

However, the inexperience and incompetence of this NPP Government is on display for the entire public to see. For a country that is still recovering from bankruptcy, it is of grave concern that the management of the national economy is in the hands of apparent novices.

(The author is a Geopolitics and Public Policy consultant, former Director of International Affairs to the President of Sri Lanka (2022-2024) and former journalist for Al-Jazeera)