Despite Ranil wasting it, Harini went to the UK and stayed at the High Commissioner's office.

Currently, there is significant attention focused on the foreign tours of state leaders within Sri Lanka's political sphere and the use of public funds expended for them. The two recent visits to the United Kingdom by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and current Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, and how state funds were managed during these trips, have become a particular topic of discussion these days.

While it is reported that the Prime Minister took maximum steps to minimize unnecessary expenses during her British tour, serious allegations of misusing 16.6 million rupees in public funds have been leveled regarding the former President's visit.

Current Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya recently departed for Britain to participate in several programs, including the 22nd Commonwealth Education Conference. During her visit, she joined several academic and diplomatic engagements focused on various aspects of the education sector. It is noteworthy that on days when official accommodation was not provided during this tour, the Prime Minister stayed at the High Commissioner's official residence. Although this official residence was built to provide accommodation for Sri Lankan state leaders, ministers, and senior officials visiting Britain, thereby minimizing hotel expenses, recent politicians had made it a common practice to stay in hotels at state expense. However, the Prime Minister, by changing this old system and using the official residence to reduce unnecessary expenses throughout the entire tour, has set a new example for the political culture.

A completely different situation is reported concerning former President Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to the United Kingdom. A controversial situation has now arisen within the Attorney General's Department regarding the prosecution based on the accusation that he misused 16.6 million rupees in state funds during that visit. According to investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department, two differing opinions have emerged among its senior officials regarding whether there is sufficient evidence to file charges.

Deputy Solicitor General Wasantha Perera, who supervised these investigations, has withdrawn from those responsibilities due to the controversies that arose. His position is that there is insufficient evidence to file criminal charges against either Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe or former Presidential Secretary Mr. Saman Ekanayake. He also submitted a six-page report to Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe, pointing out that since there is no evidence to substantiate the primary charge, Mr. Ekanayake cannot be charged under the offense of aiding and abetting. The report states that staying at an intermediate stop in the United Kingdom when traveling from Cuba via New York to Sri Lanka is not new for Mr. Wickremesinghe, and therefore, he would likely have stayed there regardless of whether he received an invitation from the University of Wolverhampton.

Furthermore, the Deputy Solicitor General has pointed out that the Criminal Investigation Department team traveled to Britain to ascertain the authenticity of the invitation letter for Mr. Wickremesinghe's wife's graduation ceremony without proper authorization under the Mutual Legal Assistance Act (MLA). Due to this, the investigation team was unable to even record an official statement regarding the letter in that country.

However, Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, the chief supervising officer of this investigation, and officials of the Criminal Investigation Department hold a contrary view. They have informed the Attorney General that criminal charges can be filed against the former President based on the available evidence. Meanwhile, an 11-page analytical report prepared by Government Counsel Ms. Samadari Piyasena has indicated that there is sufficient evidence to arrest the former Presidential Secretary. However, it is also reported that the Criminal Investigation Department has not yet responded to the Attorney General's Department's written request for excerpts from further investigations conducted in the United Kingdom.