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Energy minister under fire as NPP confronts first no-confidence motion ...
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s ruling National People’s Power (NPP) government is confronting its first major test of political credibility, as Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody faces a No-Confidence Motion while under indictment in the Colombo High Court over alleged corruption dating back to his tenure as a state official. The case, rooted in his role as a procurement manager at the state-owned Ceylon Fertilizer Company (CFC) in 2014, has thrust into sharp focus the tensions between due process and political accountability, as Jayakody continues to hold ministerial office despite formal charges. For a government elected on an anti-corruption platform, the unfolding controversy is being widely seen as an early measure of whether its pledges on transparency and clean governance can withstand real-world political pressure. Who is Kumara Jayakody? Punya Sri Kumara Jayakody is an engineer by profession. He is a member and a national executive committee member of the ruling NPP. In November 2024, he entered parliament on the NPP’s national list and was appointed the minister of energy. First public salvo Jayakody is the first NPP minister or politician to be indicted for corruption. The NPP’s parliamentary group consists of 159 including 18 national list members. On March 3, 2025 Batticaloa District ITAK parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rasamanickam speaking during the committee-stage debate of the Ministry of Energy on Budget 2025 proposals, said an individual who had been interdicted over a financial fraud in the Ceylon Fertilizer Corporation(CFC) was now a member of the NPP Cabinet and occupied a front row seat among the government benches. He also said the person in question had been appointed to the Fertilizer Corporation when Anura Kumara Dissanayake was Minister of Agriculture in the UPFA Government under President Chandrika Kumaratunga. The investigation into alleged corruption in procurement dates back to the time when Jayakody served the CFC started after the change of government in 2015. The charges Legal action was filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), Sri Lanka’s main anti-corruption authority in Agust 2025 acting under Section 70 of the Bribery Act. Section 70 of the Bribery Act (Bribery Amendment Act No 20 of 1994) states: “Any public servant who, with intent, to cause wrongful or unlawful loss to the Government, or to confer a wrongful or unlawful benefit, favor or advantage on himself or any person, or...
Oil, Coal and Power Cuts: Is the Govt Walking Into Disaster?
A deepening national crisis is beginning to take shape as diplomatic missteps, Russian oil uncertainty, substandard coal, drought, and rising political pressure combine to place Sri Lanka on the edge of another energy and governance storm. It has now been 35 days since the United States began its war against Iran. What started as a confrontation involving only the United States, Israel, and Iran has steadily widened into a broader Middle Eastern conflict, sending shockwaves through the region and creating economic and political consequences that are now being felt far beyond its borders, including in Sri Lanka. Within the very first hour of the conflict, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa made a special statement in Parliament, warning that the war could soon trigger a fuel crisis in Sri Lanka. He cautioned that the Strait of Hormuz might be closed and stressed that the country should urgently begin talks with nations such as Russia and India to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fuel and energy resources. Follow The Morning Telegraph WhatsApp Channel Get breaking updates, instant alerts, and exclusives. Join Now Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, however, responded dismissively, even mockingly, arguing that there was no genuine danger of the Strait of Hormuz being shut. He further claimed that even if such a development took place, Sri Lanka would still face no real problem because oil could easily be sourced through Singapore. Yet, in the end, those who mocked Premadasa’s warning now appear to have fallen directly into the very crisis he predicted. They were eventually forced to begin urgent discussions with Russia in an effort to secure fuel supplies, but by then the response looked far less like strategy and far more like a delayed reaction after the damage had already begun. Last week, the Inside Politics column revealed that attempts to obtain oil from Russia were not being pursued primarily through formal government-to-government channels, but rather through personal networks and informal connections. Many had assumed that Russia, under a left-oriented political leadership, would naturally support Sri Lanka’s present self-described leftist government. But perhaps because the current administration has projected an ideologically confused posture, appearing to lean both left and right at the same time, Moscow did not initially seem eager to assist. BRICS Summit A major reason cited by many observers was Sri Lanka’s decision to decline a written i...
Parliament to debate no-confidence motion against energy minister on ...
The Committee on Parliamentary Business has decided that the Parliament of Sri Lanka will convene on April 7, 9, and 10, during which several Acts and the No-Confidence Motion against the Minister of Energy, Kumara Jayakody, are to be taken up.
NPP Grapples with Energy Crisis, Tariff Hikes, and Public Outcry
... power supply without resorting to scheduled power cuts. ... These accusations have become widespread, with Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody facing allegations of ...
