The Constitutional Council is scheduled to convene in Parliament today (April 22) to decide on the appointment of a new Auditor General.

Several candidates have been proposed for the position, including Dharmapala Gammanpila, the most senior officer at the National Audit Office, who is currently serving as Senior Deputy Auditor General.

The Division Heads’ Forum at the department as well as the and the Joint Trade Union Confederation have urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to appoint Mr. Dharmapala to the position, citing that he is best suited to uphold the responsibilities of the state audit process, aligning with the government’s vision for a clean and corruption-free public administration.

They have also highlighted that the most senior qualified officer in the National Audit Office is prioritized for the Auditor General post and Mr. Dharmapala fully meets the legislative criteria as well as the required experience and expertise for the role.

They caution that appointing an external candidate to this key post could undermine public confidence in the government.

The police have issued a clarification regarding a fake letter circulating on social media.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has launched an investigation to take legal action against those spreading false information.

Police report that a letter titled “CONVICTION,” bearing the name of Acting IGP Priyantha Weerasuriya and a forged signature, is circulating on social media, claiming to be from an alleged  “Cyber Crime Headquarters, Sri Lanka.”

The police confirms that the circulating letter contains inconsistent language without legal basis, and features logos resembling the national emblem of Sri Lanka as well as the logos of the Supreme Court and Sri Lanka Police.

The police have clarified that there is no institution named “Cyber Crime Headquarters Colombo, Sri Lanka,” and that the designations and content in the letter are false, distorted, and not issued by the SL Police.

The police further stated that the letter seems to have been deliberately crafted to discredit the Sri Lanka Police and mislead the public.

Ruling National People’s Power (NPP) will not be successful at this year’s local government elections, and no party will get a clear majority in some of the bodies, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe said today.

“The ruling party is anticipating a victory at the local government election. However, they will not succeed. Also, no party will obtain a majority in many local bodies. Opposition parties, which contest the local bodies, could obtain the chairmanship of some of the local bodies if they cooperate. I do not know whether the Samagi Jana Balawegaya will join in this effort. However, the opposition can gain control of some of the local bodies if they cooperate,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said during a meeting of candidates at UNP Headquarters Sirikotha.

“Let’s work together and try to secure control of at least some of the local bodies,” he added.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said, “The present government is boasting about the new legislation which it has introduced. It was the previous government which laid the foundation for it. “It was our government which came out with an anti-corruption agenda. IMF wanted the legislation pertaining to corruption brought in without delay. I therefore got former Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe to prepare some of the legislation. The IMF informed us that it will not release the next tranche if Proceeds of Crimes Bill is not enacted by December 2024. However, we were not able to do it as we had to hold elections. The present government took a long time to get it enacted. There is not much of a difference between the Crimes of Procedure Bill which we were hoping to bring in and the one that has been enacted by the present government.

Sri Lanka’s economy has begun to slide again. As per the predictions of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) the economic growth is expected to go down to 3.4 per cent in 2026 compared to 3.9 per cent which was as of December 2025. Sri Lanka’s strong growth is gradually fading according to ADB. The government should come out and let people know of the real situation.”

(dailymirror.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by dailymirror.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)