Expose the Companies that had advanced Information
By Adolf
The allegation raised by Opposition MP Mujibur Rahman is not a minor procedural complaint. If proven true, it strikes at the very core of governance, market integrity, and public trust. The charge is simple but explosive: that politically connected companies and businessmen received advance information about the President’s vehicle import surcharge Gazette and rushed to open Letters of Credit before the announcement became public.
According to the figures presented, 1,782 brand-new vehicles had LCs opened on May 15 — just one day before the surcharge was officially announced. That timing alone raises serious questions. In any functioning democracy, such an extraordinary coincidence would immediately trigger a transparent investigation. Who were the importers? Which companies opened the LCs? Which banks facilitated them? Who knew about the Gazette before publication? The public has a right to know.
Poor Governance
This is not merely about vehicle imports. It is about whether insider access to government decisions has become a business model for a privileged few. When ordinary citizens struggle under crushing taxes, inflation, and economic hardship, the perception that a select circle profits from confidential state decisions is deeply damaging. Sri Lanka has already paid a terrible price for economic mismanagement, opaque policymaking, and the culture of patronage that contributed to the country’s collapse in 2022. Any hint that lessons have not been learned will destroy what little confidence remains.
If billions in revenue were indeed lost because importers beat the surcharge deadline using advance information, then this is not just unethical — it borders on economic sabotage against the state itself. Every rupee lost is money denied to public services, debt reduction, and economic recovery. Governments cannot preach fiscal discipline to the public while allowing privileged insiders to exploit confidential policy decisions for private gain.
The silence from the authorities is equally troubling. The government must immediately publish the names of the companies involved, the dates of the LCs, and the number of vehicles imported under each entity. Transparency is the only antidote to suspicion. If there was no wrongdoing, then disclosure will clear the air. If wrongdoing occurred, those responsible must be held accountable regardless of political connections.
Sri Lankans were promised a new political culture after the economic crisis — one based on accountability, meritocracy, and clean governance. Yet allegations such as these reinforce the belief that governments change but the system remains the same: insiders win, the public pays.
What does this government stand for? That is now the defining question. Does it stand for transparency and equal treatment under the law? Or does it stand for protecting a network of politically connected business interests with privileged access to state information?
The answer will not come from speeches or press conferences. It will come from whether the government has the courage to expose the companies involved and allow a fully independent investigation into how such a suspicious sequence of events occurred.
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