The Parliamentary Opposition has raised concerns over Puttalam District Parliamentarian Ali Sabri Raheem, who was recently arrested and subsequently released after being implicated in smuggling a consignment of gold and mobile phones worth Rs. 70 million into Sri Lanka, still functioning as a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and Privileges.
Customs officials on duty at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake impounded a total of 3.5 kg of undeclared gold and several mobile phones from the possession of the MP, who was returning to the island on 23 May 2023. Several parties have since demanded that legal action be taken against him.
Speaking at a media briefing yesterday (11), Opposition MP Prof. G.L. Peiris said that no action had been taken against the relevant MP (Raheem) thus far. “Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa and several other parties pointed out the need to take action against him from time to time. They even met with Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana and requested him to take action, but, there has been no action against him. All our efforts have proved futile.”
He further said that it is surprising that Raheem still functions as a member of the Parliamentary Ethics and Privileges Committee, to which the request made by MPs seeking action against him had also referred. “The complaint against him has been made to the said committee, but he is still a member of it. The Government, Parliament, and the Speaker do not seem to be interested in taking action against him. This is why the people have lost their trust in everything today. Regardless of the Bills introduced, the people do not believe in what the Government does.”
Speaker Abeywardana was not available for comment.
Following the incident in question, in a letter which was handed over to Abeywardana in May, Premadasa and several other MPs had said that Raheem had misused his parliamentary privileges and diplomatic passport to smuggle gold and mobile phones through the Very Important Persons (VIP) terminal of the BIA, thereby violating the Code of Ethics for MPs passed in 2008.