Under the theme “Abolish the PTA! Withdraw the PSTA!”, trade unions, mass organisations and political activists held a joint media briefing today (25.09.2026) at 11.00 a.m. at the Colombo Public Library hall, demanding the withdrawal of the PSTA and the abolition of the PTA.
Speaking at the briefing, lawyer Nuwan Bopage said:
“When the NPP government came into power, it said it was a truly good, thoroughly democratic government. It promised the people — both on political platforms and in its own policy statement — not only to repeal all the repressive laws passed by previous governments, but also to completely do away with the corrupt system of governance that had prevailed until then.
But now, less than two years after the NPP government took power, it has forgotten those promises and begun moving in an anti-democratic direction. It is now bringing in a highly corrupt constitutional amendment to keep the Chief Justice it wants in office indefinitely, despite public opposition. It has also gazetted an extremely dangerous repressive law called the “Protection of the State from Terrorism Act.” It aims to restrict people’s right to political activity, protest, and dissent, showing why it must be withdrawn.
The new PSTA is a law brought in to bind the hands of this country’s people. The government continues to follow IMF policy without deviation. While granting relief to the wealthy, it keeps piling a huge tax burden onto ordinary people. To continue this plundering economic policy, the government needs to silence those who protest and oppose it. Those who held power before—Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Rajapaksa family—also tried this. But faced with public opposition, they were forced to withdraw those repressive laws. The very party that once represented the front line of struggle against that repression is the one in power today, yet it is now using the same kind of repression.
The government’s attempt to bring in an even more dangerous repressive law under the guise of repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act must be withdrawn immediately. Like the Prevention of Terrorism Act, this new Protection of the State from Terrorism Act will be used to silence people. We know that thousands of young men and women in both the North and the South were killed through state terrorism using the PTA. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna itself was one of the principal victims of that law at the time. It is utterly despicable that the very party that was once a victim of such repression has now come to power and is bringing in an even more dangerous repressive law.
Therefore, we tell the people of this country that they must oppose this immediately. If this law is passed, you will lose your right to political activity, and you will lose freedom of the press and artistic expression. We therefore invite all citizens of this country to unite, unconditionally, around the struggle to abolish the PTA and withdraw the PSTA.
