Private sector pension Bill is constitutional: Speaker

Adding a new twist to the proposed private pension scheme the Speaker yesterday told Parliament that the Supreme Court had ruled that the Bill was not unconstitutional.

The announcement was made by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa after the court ruling was delivered to the Parliament. This comes after the Private Pension Bill, which was tabled to be debated on 27 April was postponed. The court dismissed the petition filed against the Bill claiming that it is unconstitutional.

Following protests against the Bill from trade unions and business chambers the Finance Ministry agreed to compile a fresh draft of the document.  This step was taken during a National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) meeting that was chaired by the Labour Minister Gamini Lokuge and participated by over 20 trade unions.

However a time line for the new draft was not discussed nor was there enough time to decide what would be the salient points that would be changed in the new draft. Government media had earlier reported that the Pension Bill will be implemented within a year.