Sri Lankan Parliament Passes Anti-Corruption Bill With 190 Amendments

Colombo [Sri Lanka]: The Sri Lankan Parliament passed the Anti-Corruption Bill with a record 190 amendments, Daily Mirror reported on Wednesday.

Notably, the bill was subjected to broad discussions by various individuals, organizations as well as the international community. The 190 amendments were proposed by both the ruling party and the Opposition during the Committee Stage of the debate.

While, the Sri Lankan government agreed to some amendments proposed by the Opposition some others were rejected, Daily Mirror reported.

One of the major amendments proposed by the Opposition was that the legislation should be effective from the date the UN Charter on Corruption was approved by the member states.

However, Minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapaksha argued that there is no provision in the constitution to make a legislation effective from the date on which UN Charters are approved.

“We will have to amend the constitution if we are to include this amendment,” Daily Mirror quoted Rajapaksha as saying.

The Minister further claimed that the legislations have a retrospective effect as there are provisions for penalising a person for an offence committed under the earlier Bribery Commission Act.

Bringing in laws to prevent corruption is a condition laid out by the IMF to provide the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to Sri Lanka, Daily Mirror reported.