Anti-Corruption Bill passed with amendments in Parliament

After years of long pursuit, the Anti-Corruption Bill ‒ a landmark piece of legislation defining measures to reduce corruption and vulnerabilities by improving fiscal transparency and public financial management was finally passed in Parliament yesterday, accompanied by amendments, without a vote.  The amendments were proposed by the Justice, Prisons Affairs, and Constitutional Reforms Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and certain Opposition members during the Committee Stage of the Bill.

The Bill was originally presented to Parliament on 27 April, by the Justice, Prisons Affairs, and Constitutional Minister, underwent a comprehensive second reading debate on 21 June and 6 July.

The move is a result of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package, amidst the ongoing economic crisis. Such a Bill was long overdue and should have ideally come as a result of domestic compulsions rather than an international compulsion.

 On 13 March, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal submitted by Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reform Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe to proceed with the next steps.

 The IMF has urged Sri Lanka to reduce corruption and vulnerabilities by improving fiscal transparency and public financial management, introducing a stronger anti-corruption legal framework and conducting in-depth governance diagnostic, to provide an extended fund facility (EFF) of $ 2.9 billion.

 Analysts said the Anti-corruption Bill shouldn›t just be a checkbox exercise to get access to foreign aid. It must be a chance to confront the systemic corruption that has not only made it possible for the political elites to be corrupt but also encouraged it and given them impunity for their actions.