SJB ready to help Govt. reform counter-terrorism legislation to secure GSP+

SJB Parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne addressing the press yesterday

The main Opposition said yesterday it is ready to support the Government to reform the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and thereby save the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) concessions from the European Union. 

“We have decided after seeing the Sri Lanka Law Commission’s draft on protecting National Security, which is concise and effective, that could be a starting point (for reforms); and in Parliament, we will support the Government in taking this discourse forward,” Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Eran Wickramaratne said.

He added that the SJB was of the firm view that a robust and effective National Security Framework can be developed without compromising human rights and democracy.  

The Opposition MP said that shrinking democratic space, deteriorating human rights situation and the failure to repeal the PTA in the country spurred last week’s European Union parliamentary resolution. 

The resolution called on the EU Commission to “carefully assess whether there is sufficient reason, as a last resort, to initiate a procedure for the temporary withdrawal of Sri Lanka’s GSP+ status and to report to Parliament on this matter as soon as possible”.

“Out of the 705 members in the European Parliament, 648 members voted for a resolution, I would say, against Sri Lanka. That is 90% of the members,” said Wickramaratne, calling the move “unfortunate” and a big blow to the Government.

Wickramaratne highlighted the importance of the European Union trade concessions, GSP+ to the economy, and the need to uphold Sri Lanka’s commitments to retain them.

“The garments industry and fisheries industry were direct beneficiaries of the GSP+ concessions. The ceramics and rubber industries also benefited,” Wickramaratne said, explaining that when the previous Government took over in 2015, negotiating the reinstatement of the concessions was a priority.

“If we don’t have this benefit, the export prices will go up and we will lose our competitiveness. We lose our market share. We cannot let this happen,” the former State Minister of Finance stressed, pointing out that the EU and the US are Sri Lanka’s main export markets.  

MP Wickramaratne blamed the resistance from the then Opposition for delaying the proposed reforming of the PTA. “When we were in office, we tried to improve on the existing PTA but we didn’t receive the support of the Opposition then, and we couldn’t go ahead and bring in a new act,” he argued.

New counter-terrorism legislation needs to give primacy to the defence and security of the country while protecting democracy and human rights, MP Wickramaratne opined.