Wimal says not responsible if Govt. disregards its political position over 20A

Minister Wimal Weerawansa

The National Freedom Front in a letter to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that the party is disappointed over the failure to include any of the amendments to the draft bill, proposed by its leader Minister Wimal Weerawansa, in the proposal of amendments to the draft of 20A of the Government submitted by the Attorney General in court.

The letter titled ‘Amendments to be made to the 20th Amendment to the Constitution during the Parliamentary Committee Stage’ includes concerns of the party regarding the amendments that should be included in the draft of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution at the parliamentary committee stage.

On behalf of the politburo of the National Freedom Front, its General Secretary S. Wijayasiri has forwarded the letter to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. The letter emphasises that three points in the proposal of amendments to the draft of 20A submitted by the National Freedom Front are crucial and the general public was also strongly opposed to the issues highlighted through those three points. “Neglecting those points will negatively impact the image of the Government and the spirit of the public mandate, which the Prime Minister would also agree on,” the letter states.

The first point emphasised is the exemption of companies registered under the Registrar of Companies, which the Government holds the majority of shares from the Auditor General’s audit.

The second point is the passing of emergency acts, without informing the general public regarding such through Gazette notifications.

The third point highlighted is the complete removal of the barrier to dual citizenship instead of imposing it on diplomats and senior Government officials beyond the Members of Parliament.

Through the letter to the Prime Minister, the National Freedom Front has respectfully emphasised that the Government should correct those mistakes.

The party states that this should be a political stance taken to protect the public mandate and in the event the Government as a whole, chooses to ignore this political stance, the party will not be held politically responsible in this regard.