-By LeN Investigations Editor
(Lanka-e-News -21.Nov.2025, 10.30 PM) The rally in Nugegoda on Friday — hastily branded a “national rescue movement” by its organisers — was, in reality, a familiar gathering of Sri Lanka’s most strident nationalist voices: a coalition of right-wing Sinhala-Buddhist hardliners, political survivalists, and several veterans of previous anti-reform crusades. Their message was blunt: the National People's Power (NPP) government must be toppled.
To many observers, it echoed an ominous pattern. This was not merely another street demonstration. This was a calculated, well-funded political mobilisation designed to rouse old anxieties, resurrect defeated power blocs, and weaponise ethno-religious narratives that have destabilised Sri Lanka before.
For a government elected on a platform of clean governance, anti-corruption, and a break from the country’s feudal dynastic politics, the message delivered in Nugegoda was unmistakable. And if history is anything to go by, the NPP ignores it at its peril.
Sources within the security establishment described the event as “a warning shot” — not merely at the government, but also at the fragile social order the NPP has vowed to protect. The key speakers included stalwarts of the former Rajapaksa-led coalition, veteran nationalist agitators, and several politicians whose entire public careers have been built on ethno-religious appeals.
Udaya Gammanpila, one of the loudest voices of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism, declared from the stage that the government would be “toppled at the first opportunity.” To many listening, the remark was not just political theatre; it was a promise of destabilisation.
The choreography of the rally closely resembled earlier campaigns orchestrated during the Yahapalana period (2015–2019), when nationalist sentiment was mobilised systematically against President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Those anti-Yahapalana campaigns, it must be remembered, laid the psychological foundations for the rise of extremist networks, the discrediting of moderate voices, and, ultimately, the political chaos that enveloped the country after the Easter Sunday attacks.
Those who assembled in Nugegoda call themselves the “Joint Opposition.” But their composition is no secret. Many are aligned with the Rajapaksa political network — a powerful family whose influence in Sri Lankan politics stretches across two decades and spans parliament, the bureaucracy, and the business sector.
Several others come from the political factions led by Ranil Wickremesinghe and Maithripala Sirisena, both of whom are facing uncomfortable scrutiny over allegations of corruption, abuse of state resources, and political negligence.
And then there are the monks, activists, and self-styled “protectors of the nation,” whose organisations have historically thrived on ethno-religious polarisation.
According to diplomats based in Colombo, this coalition is less concerned with ideology than with self-preservation. As one senior diplomat put it:
“This is a political alliance of people who have the most to lose from a functioning anti-corruption system.”
The NPP was swept into power by voters exhausted with corruption, political violence, authoritarianism, and the economic catastrophe triggered by successive governments. Central to its mandate is the creation of an independent anti-corruption regime capable of investigating past financial crimes — including those allegedly involving major political families.
The rally in Nugegoda was, according to several analysts, a direct response to the acceleration of certain corruption probes.
Among those reportedly unsettled are former officials linked to controversial infrastructure tenders, foreign bond issuances, defence procurement, and state-owned enterprise deals. Some investigations have allegedly begun tracing the flow of funds into offshore accounts, shell companies, and politically linked businesses.
“It is not ideology that unites the Joint Opposition,” a senior political analyst observed.
“It is fear — fear of accountability.”
The challenge for the NPP government is twofold.
First, it must confront the political threat posed by a network of nationalist actors who are highly experienced at exploiting public grievances. They understand the economy is still fragile, living costs are high, and patience is thin. Their strategy is clear: sow doubt, manufacture cultural panic, and frame the NPP’s reforms as an existential threat to Sinhala-Buddhist heritage.
Second, the NPP must avoid repeating the fatal missteps of the Yahapalana administration. From 2015 to 2019, the government’s sluggishness, disunity, and indecision gave its opponents the time and space to rebuild. The nationalist movement exploited every delay, framing Yahapalana’s attempts at reconciliation and reform as a betrayal of the Sinhala people.
The result was a national security vacuum, a deeply fragmented electorate, and a catastrophic loss of public trust — conditions that extremist actors exploited with devastating effect.
Friday’s rally must be viewed in this historical context. It was not simply a protest; it was the re-activation of a political machine that has repeatedly used racial and religious nationalism to regain power.
The slogans used were revealing:
Claims of a “threat to Buddhism.”
Allegations that minorities were being “favoured.”
Narratives accusing the NPP of being “anti-Sinhala.”
Rhetoric warning of “foreign influence,” “NGO conspiracies,” and “Christian-Muslim alliances.”
These accusations are not new. They formed the backbone of the propaganda campaigns that undermined the Yahapalana reform agenda and ultimately plunged the country into the hands of the very political actors whose policies triggered the economic collapse.
Political historians point out that nationalist movements in Sri Lanka have always resurfaced during periods of political vulnerability:
In the 1950s, they derailed attempts at ethnic reconciliation.
In the 1980s, they shaped the reaction to Tamil militancy.
In the 2000s, they fuelled the rhetoric that surrounded the civil war.
In the 2010s, they became tools for suppressing dissent and legitimising authoritarianism.
Now, in the 2020s, they are once again being assembled — with the same faces, the same financiers, and the same playbook.
The NPP cannot afford complacency. The government’s base is broad but fragile: youth, professionals, trade unions, small businesses, and rural voters who are desperate for clean governance but still wary of rapid reforms.
Many voters who supported the NPP did so not out of ideology, but out of exhaustion. If the government appears indecisive, slow, or naive about political threat assessment, these voters could drift away — opening the door for nationalist groups to exploit public frustration.
The NPP’s greatest strength — its reputation for integrity — is also its greatest vulnerability. If that reputation is tarnished, even temporarily, the government will find itself fighting on multiple fronts.
Economists warn that Sri Lanka’s slow recovery provides fertile ground for manufactured political anger. Inflation remains painful for the poor. Debt relief is still incomplete. The IMF programme is deeply unpopular among certain groups. And employment, particularly in rural districts, remains weak.
These are precisely the conditions in which nationalist movements thrive.
“Nationalism becomes the escape route for people who feel neglected,” said a senior lecturer in political economy.
“It diverts attention from real economic issues and redirects anger toward imagined threats.”
This is the mechanism the Joint Opposition is now attempting to deploy.
The Yahapalana government’s greatest error was its slowness in confronting corruption cases and extremist rhetoric. Delays in legal proceedings allowed their opponents to claim the government was weak, indecisive, or hypocritical. Meanwhile, nationalist actors used the time to build powerful networks that infiltrated villages, temples, media organisations, and social media ecosystems.
Those networks eventually helped create an atmosphere ripe for disinformation, fear, and the most destructive political conspiracy theories in modern Sri Lankan history.
The NPP, if it is to succeed where Yahapalana failed, must avoid allowing its opponents to build momentum unchecked.
Even within the NPP’s support base, there is growing frustration at the pace of reform. Transparency activists, trade union leaders, and professionals involved in governance reforms say the government has been too cautious and too bureaucratic in its approach to anti-corruption investigations.
“There is evidence, there are files, there are witnesses,” one civil society leader said.
“But the government is still moving as if it has years. It does not.”
The concern is clear: if corruption cases stall, if political investigations drag on, the nationalist movement will exploit the delays — and present itself as the defender of the nation once again.
One of the NPP’s central promises was the depoliticisation of the judiciary. While many reforms are underway, the judicial system remains slow, overstretched, and vulnerable to external pressure.
If major corruption cases involving powerful individuals are to proceed, the judiciary must be given the resources, legal mechanisms, and political insulation required to withstand pressure from factions that stand to lose the most.
A senior legal scholar noted:
“If the judiciary becomes a bottleneck, the entire anti-corruption project collapses — and with it, the NPP’s credibility.”
For the NPP, the path forward requires clarity, speed, and political realism.
1. Accelerate anti-corruption cases
Tackling high-profile corruption is not merely judicial housekeeping. It is the only way to counter the influence of political actors who are mobilising nationalism as a shield against accountability.
2. Strengthen legal tools against incitement
Nationalist propaganda thrives in regulatory gaps. The government needs to empower institutions to respond quickly to hate speech, organised disinformation, and calls for communal mobilisation.
3. Build a coalition of moderates
The silent majority — professionals, youth, religious leaders, small entrepreneurs — support stability. The NPP must engage them before the opposition does.
4. Protect the integrity of the security apparatus
Extremist groups often cultivate sympathisers within state institutions. The government must ensure security agencies do not become conduits for nationalist mobilisation.
5. Communicate clearly, swiftly, and consistently
The political vacuum created by silence is quickly filled by conspiracy theories.
The Nugegoda rally was not spontaneous. It was organised, financed, and calibrated to send a message: the old political order is preparing to return.
And it will return — unless the NPP acts decisively.
Sri Lanka stands at a crossroads. The country has, for the first time in decades, a government with a clear mandate against corruption and authoritarianism. But it also faces a coalition of political forces that have repeatedly shown they are willing to inflame ethno-religious tensions to regain power.
If the NPP government fails to recognise the urgency of the moment — if it repeats the cautious, hesitant, divided approach of the Yahapalana years — the same forces that once plunged the country into crisis may once again find their way to the centre of power.
The stakes could not be higher.
Sri Lanka has waited too long for a clean political order. It cannot afford to wait any longer.
-By LeN Investigations Editor
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by (2025-11-21 17:03:34)
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