Several petitions were filed today challenging the Government’s proposed Port City Economic Commission Bill.
Two petitions were filed by the United National Party and one was filed by the Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The three petitions were filed at the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
A five- judge bench of the Supreme Court has been appointed to consider the petitions filed challenging the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill.
Meanwhile, petitions were also filed against the Bill today by Government MP Wijedasa Rajapaksha and Venerable Muruttettuwe Ananda Thera.
“We do not want Sri Lanka to become a Chinese colony,” Ven. Ananda Thera told media today after filing the petition.
Full statement of the United National Party:
The Government’s proposed Port City Economic Commission bill has been challenged at the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
The United National Party filed two separate petitions today on behalf of the General-Secretary of the UNP and the Chairman of the UNP. The Attorney-General has been named as a respondent in the petition.
The Port City project is of national importance and if properly implemented will greatly benefit the country’s economy.
The Party questions as to why the process of this bill, which is of national importance, has been carried out in a hurried manner, lacking any proper transparency. This important piece of legislation has been presented to the Parliament on the eve of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, failing to allow for proper examination and consultation.
Accordingly, the Party has challenged the Bill on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the Constitution of the country and will fail to fulfill its purposes.
This Bill, in its current form, is inconsistent with Parliament’s control over public finances, allows for the abuse of power and fails to ensure a transparent system of checks and balances.
Furthermore, the Bill is considered to be in violation is Articles 3 & 4 of the Constitution in regard to the Legislative, Judicial and Executive powers of the citizens of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. (NewsWire)
