Presidential pardon scandal adds to Govt. woes 

The Government is embroiled in another scandal, this time over the granting of a Presidential pardon to a man convicted of a financial crime, the fallout of which has seen Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya remanded and a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) investigation underway to ascertain how the man was released.

Upuldeniya is in remand till 25 June pending investigation while another prison officer from Anuradhapura prison too has been remanded in connection with the incident.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Dileepa Peeris told the Colombo Magistrate’s Court in submissions related to the case that investigations revealed additional instances of inmates being illegally released under the guise of Presidential pardons. 

He said 57 prisoners were wrongfully released during the 2024 Christmas and 11 more during the 2025 Independence Day, despite not meeting the required conditions.

On one hand the Government must be commended for initiating an inquiry into the fast evolving scandal but on the other hand there are serious questions on if the responsibility can be entirely palmed off to the prison department and not other officials.

The list recommending the names for pardon were sent to the President’s Office and the President’s Media Division said that the name in question was not on it when the President signed it. In the name of transparency it’s best that the list of names is made public. Also it is important to know at which point the additional name was added. 

While holding public officials to account is good, using them as a shield to cover up political mess isn’t. 

A few months ago there was an incident where a notorious prison officer connected to the Welikada prison shooting incident was felicitated by Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara. After it caused an uproar, Government sources said he was unaware that the controversial man was going to be felicitated at the event he attended.

We’ve had many such incidents where the Government has been shying away from accepting responsibility and using the blame game as its favourite tool. In the case of the fake PhD of the former speaker Asoka Ranwala, there too the Government failed to act responsibly and instead failed to take action against a man who lied about his qualifications. 

The Justice Minister himself came under scrutiny over a similar issue and went to the CID against Parliament staff but we are yet to know what such investigation uncovered.

There was also the scandalous incident where the Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala said that a man pretended to be one of his staff members and obtained 17 passports fraudulently. Watagala also rushed to the CID and the public is still waiting to hear if the man in question has been arrested and for whom and with whose blessing he obtained the passports, that too at a time when there was a severe shortage.

There are only a few but those in Government are making it a habit to put all the blame on past Governments for its failures. It’s getting close to a year since the President took office and over six months since the NPP won the Parliamentary election with a two-third majority and hence thinking the public will keep buying the same excuse of blaming its predecessors is a big mistake.

Already it is becoming clear to many who voted for the NPP that its election promises were meant just for the election platforms and not as serious undertakings. 

Hence while welcoming crackdown on corruption at all levels, it’s important for the Government to also address the concerns about lack of transparency on its part where its members are concerned. There’s only so far one can go by blaming others.