The People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to reconsider several provisions of the proposed amendments to Sri Lanka’s Anti-Corruption Act, warning that they could restrict public access to and use of asset and liability declarations.
In a letter addressed to the President, PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi said the Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2023 had marked an important step towards greater transparency and accountability by allowing public scrutiny of asset and liability declarations.
However, PAFFREL raised concerns over provisions in the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill that restrict how redacted asset declarations obtained by the public can be used.
The gazetted Bill proposes that such declarations may only be used for submission to specified officers or institutions under the Act, with violations potentially resulting in a fine of up to Rs. 100,000, imprisonment of up to one year, or both.
PAFFREL said journalists, civil society organisations and interested citizens should be able to examine declarations, identify discrepancies and question whether the assets of public officials can be explained by their legitimate income.
The election monitoring organisation also objected to increasing the state-ownership threshold applicable to certain companies from 25% to 50%. Under the proposed amendment, companies in which the government or a public corporation owns between 25% and 49.9% would fall outside the relevant threshold.
PAFFREL further raised concerns over removing the existing requirement to declare the assets and liabilities of another person who has lived with the declarant and shared the same household for at least six months.
It warned that removing this requirement could potentially create an avenue for assets to be held in another person’s name while remaining under the control or for the benefit of the declarant. The Bill proposes removing the requirement on privacy grounds.
PAFFREL also expressed concern that some provisions could concentrate greater authority in a single official within the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, arguing that powers within an independent commission should primarily rest with the commission or a properly established institutional structure.
At the same time, PAFFREL acknowledged that the Bill contains several positive provisions, including measures aimed at addressing gaps and ambiguities in the existing anti-corruption framework.
The organisation called on the President to ensure that amendments do not reverse transparency gains achieved through the 2023 law or weaken the public’s ability to hold those exercising public power accountable.
PAFFREL urged the government to subject the proposed amendments to broader public discussion before proceeding with the reforms.
The Anti-Corruption Amendment Bill was presented to Parliament by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya on Aug. 19. The government says the amendments are intended to address legal, interpretational, administrative and technical issues in implementing the existing Act and strengthen corruption prevention, investigations and prosecutions. (Newswire)
