- Denies reports of blanket allocation on request
- Security to be provided based on threat assessment
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya has issued a clarification regarding security arrangements for Members of Parliament (MPs) and local authority members, refuting media reports that all MPs who request security personnel will receive them.
During a meeting on Friday (31 October) chaired by Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne, the IGP confirmed that Police security provision was not an automatic entitlement for MPs and local authority officeholders simply on request.
Rather, it remains contingent upon a formal threat assessment process.
He also made it clear that the Police did not endorse the media narrative suggesting blanket allocations.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, IGP Weerasooriya rejected the notion that the Police had agreed to provide security personnel to all MPs on their request.
He said: “I believe the media has reported a separate narrative, but we do not agree with that statement. It is not an automatic entitlement. Every person who has concerns about their security must make a request and security will be allocated based on a threat assessment.”
The process for assigning security personnel to public representatives, according to IGP Weerasooriya, follows a strict, stipulated protocol driven by intelligence rather than mere request.
This procedure begins when the Police convenes a meeting, followed by an initial inquiry and intelligence investigation.
The Police then proceeds to evaluate the potential threat based on information gathered from both sides of the investigation. Crucially, security personnel are provided only when a credible threat is confirmed.
The IGP explicitly asserted: “If there is no threat, we will not be giving any Police personnel.”
He confirmed that security allocations were strictly based on objective intelligence findings and were not subject to a simple request or political decisions.
The Friday session was convened at the request of Opposition parties, led by Chief Opposition Whip Gayantha Karunatilleka, who sought a meeting with the Speaker to address mounting concerns over MPs’ safety, particularly following the recent assassination of Weligama Pradheshiya Sabha Chairman Lasantha Wickramasekara.
The Opposition has heavily criticised the Government’s prior decision to reduce or withdraw personal security details for several legislators under the banner of fiscal retrenchment.
Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) MP Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam affirmed that his security had been intact and had not been withdrawn even during the period when he was not an MP.
“Credit where it is due – as politicians, we may have conflicts on policy matters, but on security there has been no lapse. I have been allocated security owing to threats to my life and the security has remained with me all along. It is now not an automatic entitlement for an MP, but based on threat assessment, so I am presently content with the security arrangements,” he said.
Police Media Spokesperson ASP F.U. Wootler stated: “No person will be conferred special treatment. Every person is equally entitled to apply for security. Any person who applies will have to go through the threat assessment formalities and any decision for security allocation will only be made after that.”