Faiszer Musthapha, President’s Counsel and Member of Parliament officially handed over two significant Private Member Bills to the Secretary General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, aiming to modernize aspects of Sri Lanka’s personal laws that impact the rights and dignity of citizens, especially women and children.

The Dissolution of Marriages on the Ground of Irretrievable Breakdown Bill seeks to amend the Marriage Registration Ordinance and the Civil Procedure Code by introducing “irretrievable breakdown” as a legal ground for divorce—defined as a situation where no reasonable prospect exists for reconciliation.

It outlines a clear procedure for mutual consent divorce and provides safeguards on property division, maintenance, and custody of minor children.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Marriage and Divorce (Amendment) Bill targets reforms to the 1951 Act, proposing key changes:

*Setting 18 years as the standard minimum age for marriage.
*Mandating the bride’s signature on marriage registers to ensure informed consent.
*Removing gender barriers to allow qualified women to serve as Quazis.
*Requiring newly appointed Quazis to be Attorneys-at-Law and allowing legal representation in Quazi Courts.
*Transferring maintenance claims to Magistrate’s Courts for legal consistency.

Musthapha said that these reforms aim to bring Sri Lankan personal laws in line with modern international standards while respecting the country’s legal and cultural context. (Newswire)

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Former Minister Faiszer Musthapha’s name was selected as the National List MP of the National Democratic Front (NDF), despite party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe having approved the name of former Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, a new statement by the NDF reveals. 

The statement issued by the NDF Secretary, clarifying the decision behind Mustapha’s nomination, says that Kanchana Wijesekera’s name was proposed with the signatures of 18 other alliance members and had also been agreed to by Wickremesinghe.

The NDF Secretary said, however, that at the same time, another proposal was made nominating Faizer Mustapha. 

Following this, former Prime Minister Dinesh Guanwardena’s name had also been proposed, but Gunawardena had presented an alternative request nominating former minister Tiran Alles. 

The NDF Secretary said taking into consideration the various nominations, the party decided to convene its Political Council and decided to select the name which has a majority consensus, instead of an alliance-based consensus. 

The clarification comes after former Minister Faiszer Musthapha’s name was yesterday gazetted by the Election Commission as a National List MP of the National Democratic Front. (Newswire)

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