Rejection of Development Bill a good indication of public attitude, says State Finance Minister

• SLFP reminds Government to listen to what people have to say 
• Local authorities reflect the opinion of the people 
• If amendments had been incorporated in Bill before sending it to PCs it would not have been defeated

Dubbing the outright rejection of the Development (Special Provisions) Bill as a good indicator of public opinion, State Minister of Finance Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana said that the Government would have to evaluate the reasons behind the Bill’s defeat. 

“We have to understand why the Development Bill was rejected. We have to understand that the voice of the people will come through low level political representation in the country. We have to understand that there is a public voice,” Abeywardana said. 

“We have to listen to them and change accordingly when marching forward. The message is important in that sense.” 

So far seven out of nine provincial councils have defeated the Bill with the Western Province voting with a majority 28 votes yesterday.  

The Minister however claimed that there would not have been a problem in obtaining the approval of provincial councils had the Bill been amended before it was sent to local authorities.  

“Had the bill been properly discussed with all relevant parties and all amendments incorporated, then these problems would not have come up. The Prime Minister summoned the Chief Ministers to discuss the Bill and the amendments but the Government spoke of amendments only after the Bill was sent to the provincial councils. The amended Bill may be sent to the provincial councils again,” he said.

However, Abeywardana stressed the need to establish proper machinery to process Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) coming into the country, pointing out the need to have an institution dedicated for the purpose. 

“But the institution should not exceed the power of other ministries. The problem here is how this particular institution will affect other ministries,” he admitted. 

When asked if the Bill could be enacted by bypassing authorities, he denied such a possibility, saying that the Bill had to come to Parliament after the provinces. 

“Allow the democratic process to continue. In Parliament the Bill can be either rejected or accepted. Even the Divineguma Bill was passed in Parliament,” he said.