Govt. denies concerns over failure to hold elections will jeopardise international trading pacts

Wednesday, 22 February 2023 01:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Charumini De Silva

Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena

The Government yesterday affirmed that failure to hold elections on schedule will not deter its international trading pacts or commitments. “We are dealing with all our international trading partners with utmost caution and responsibility to ensure that those remain unharmed,” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena said in response to queries posed at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday. Asked if the Government was not concerned about suppressing the democratic rights of people to cast their vote, Gunawardena said the Treasury Secretary has informed the Supreme Court of financial constraints the administration is grappling with as a result of the economic crisis.

However, diplomats are cautioning that Sri Lanka risks losing the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) from the European Union over failures to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

The EU has strongly called for the Government to repeal the PTA which was used to detain suspects allegedly involved in terrorism during and after the end of a 26-year civil war. However, successive Governments have used the law to suppress their dissents.

In October 2022, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will assess progress made on Sri Lanka’s commitments for the $ 500 million GSP+ trade concession “very soon”, with a report due to be released in early 2023.

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