Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has established a controversial new Presidential Task Force, with the heads of the armed forces and no Tamil or Muslim representation, with the goal "of elevating society to a more advanced status through a social, environmental and ethical awakening".
Announced through an Extraordinary Gazette notification, the task force has been set up to "plan and implement the “Clean Sri Lanka” Programme".
The Presidential Task Force consists of 18 members, including high-ranking officials from Sri Lanka’s military and police, as well as several bureaucrats. These include the Secretary to the President, the commanders of the tri-forces, and the Acting Inspector General of Police, alongside key officials from Sri Lanka’s Urban Development Authority. Notably absent from the list of members are Muslims or Tamils.
According to the Gazette notification, "the people of Sri Lanka have become victims in the context of Sri Lanka lagging behind not only, economically but also politically, socially, culturally and ethically".
It is unclear what exactly the "Clean Sri Lanka" programme consists of or what actions the new task force will take.
Previous presidents, such as Gotabaya Rajapaksa, have also established task forces in the past. Rajapaksa’s controversial “One Country, One Law” task force was widely criticiced for its appointment of a racist extremist Buddhist monk Gnanasara at the helm of it.
DIssanayake's full gazette notification for Clean Sri Lanka can be found here.