| Roshni Kapur |
The National People’s Power (NPP) party led by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has received much publicity for its anti-corruption drive since it came to power just over a year ago. The regime has focused on systemic reforms, seeking to tackle structural and institutional problems.
The NPP’s reforms range from digital transformation to public sector restructuring to reducing government excesses and waste. The administration’s agenda resonates with a public weary of inflation, corruption and poor governance.
State institutions have been captured by political elites, entrenching fraud, waste and bribery and contributing to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. The Rajapaksa family — prominent in Sri Lankan politics for many years — appointed their allies to high-ranking roles in the government and state-controlled companies. Global factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine aggravated the crisis.
The NPP is seeking to maintain its legitimacy through its anti-corruption efforts and dismantling of public waste. The government has removed some benefits given to former heads of state, such as allowances, personal staff and numerous vehicles. The NPP has launched investigations against bureaucrats, former MPs, and members of the judiciary, the police and the private sector. These efforts ground the country’s economic recovery in anti-corruption reforms. They are also part of a broader effort to shift political culture from elite patronage to greater accountability.
Sri Lanka has a legacy of launching but not concluding investigations, particularly against individuals connected to top politicians. But several high-profile arrests occurred in 2025, notably former Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe’s arrest for allegedly misusing public funds in August. Academic Thiruni Kelegama argues that Wickremesinghe’s arrest showcased that accountability now extends to the entire political class. Yet his arrest has brought polarised reactions from the public. Some applauded the move as heralding the end of elite impunity, while others said that the charges against him were minor.
The government’s efforts to tackle corruption will likely be met with resistance from the old guard. Wickremesinghe’s arrest triggered a display of unity from politicians across different parties, with many coming together at a press conference bearing the slogan ‘Let’s defeat the constitutional dictatorship’.
In November 2023, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court stated that many key figures, including former presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa were responsible for the 2022 economic crisis. But the ruling was seen as tokenistic since its only punishment was paying the legal fees of the case’s petitioners.
The Wickremesinghe government had created the pathway for the incumbent government’s anti-corruption agenda. The Wickremesinghe administration introduced the Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2023 and revised the National Audit Act No. 19 of 2018. Progress was made on the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act No. 3 of 2023, which the NPP has continued. The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) also started work on the National Action Plan for Anti-Corruption 2025–2029.
The amended Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2023 has widened CIABOC’s scope, enabling a more comprehensive approach to tackling corruption. This allows investigations into a broader range of offences, including money laundering, private sector bribery and trading in influence.
The NPP has continued the Extended Fund Facility program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), though it pledged to revisit the deal during the 2024 election campaign. The government decided to stick to the IMF deal since renegotiation might have slowed the country’s economic recovery, which is connected to the debt restructuring process.
While the Wickremesinghe government was criticised for austerity measures implemented through the IMF program, the NPP’s continuation of this program has been received differently by the public. This is connected to the erosion of the old guard and opposition politicians’ legitimacy, particularly after the 2022 Aragalaya protest movement. The NPP has enjoyed public support as a new political contender thanks to its moral high ground, despite lacking economic or administrative experience.
The incumbent government complemented existing anti-corruption legal frameworks by introducing the Proceeds of Crime Act No. 5 of 2025 to allow for the recovery of proceeds through forfeiture, freezing and disposal. Writer Asoka S Seneviratne argues that this act is revolutionary since it paves the way to introduce the Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Authority. But Seneviratne has noted that considerable resources and time will be required to fully operationalise this law.
To better tackle corruption and bribery, the CIABOC, together with the UNDP and the Japanese government, launched a case-file tracking system in October 2025. This system serves as a digital platform that increases workflow efficiency, improves case management and allows for timely investigations. The system seeks to increase the commission’s capability to meet its institutional mandate.
While the NPP has initiated digitalisation only in a few sectors, the incorporation of such tools advances the digital transformation and state modernisation agenda articulated in its Digital Policy for Sri Lanka document.
The NPP has displayed more political will to tackle corruption than previous administrations. There is a public perception that the government is executing, at least partly, on its anti-corruption agenda. But other crucial issues such as underfunding, weak legal enforcement and limited mandates still need to be addressed to make state institutions more resilient and independent.
First published on East Asia Forum. https://doi.org/10.59425/eabc.1766743200
Roshni Kapur is PhD Candidate at the University of Ghent specialising in caste and land conflicts.
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