Marlon Ariyasinghe on Ranil Wickremesinghe’s arrest and Sri Lanka’s political morass: State of Southasia #31

2025-09-01

On the 22nd of August, Colombo police arrested the former president of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe over allegations that he used public funds on a two-day personal visit to the United Kingdom in September 2023. Sri Lanka’s anticorruption units have been cracking down on corruption cases since the president Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power in September last year on a promise to fight corruption. More than a dozen political leaders from the previous government and former government officials have been arrested or b...

Sri Lanka’s anticorruption units have been cracking down on corruption cases since the president Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power in September last year on a promise to fight corruption. More than a dozen political leaders from the previous government and former government officials have been arrested or being investigated for corruption and malpractice. Wickremesinghe’s arrest is the most high-profile one in this yet. In the wake of his arrest, a number of politicians from Wickfremesinghe’s party and others in the opposition have rallied behind him, calling the case unfair and politically motivated.

In this episode of State of Southasia episode, associate editor Nayantara Narayanan speaks to writer, editor and researcher Marlon Ariyasinghe to talk about what Wickremesinghe’s signifies in the larger politics of Sri Lanka, what about its culture has changed and what has remained stubbornly unchanging. You can also listen to this episode on:

🎧 YouTube: https://youtu.be/Z6s98j6P0K0

🎧 Apple podcasts: https://apple.co/3I29HNk

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