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SLPP National List member and Attorney-at-Law Premanath C. Dolawatta yesterday (24) handed over a bill to amend the Penal Code with the aim of protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ communities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) in Sri Lanka to President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
This bill to amend the Penal Code was submitted to the Parliament on Tuesday (23) by MP Premanath C. Dolawatta as a Private Member’s Bill.
The EU and the UK have been pressuring Sri Lanka to enact laws to protect such communities.
The Presidential Media Division (PMD) issued the following statement yesterday: “The society of this country has an extremely backward notion regarding the LGBTQ + community and as a result, not only in daily life, but even in government and law enforcement agencies, this community has been subjected to various forms of violence, oppression and harassment.
At times, even their democratic basic rights have been violated.
Punishment of individuals based on sexual orientation and sexual identification was spread throughout the world by colonial legal systems in the Victorian era. But in modern psychiatry, this is not considered a crime or a perversion. Also, developed countries have worked to amend the laws that penalize this community and limit their rights.
Having taken these factors into consideration, Parliamentarian Premanath C. Dolawatte has submitted this Private Member’s Bill.”
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A disgruntled section of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) intends to launch a new coalition, on Sunday (04), against President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government.
The group includes former SLPP ministers Vasudeva Nanayakkara (Democratic Left Front), Wimal Weerawansa (Jathika Nidahas Peramuna) and Udaya Gammanpila (Pivithuru Hela Urumaya). The new alliance would be launched at the National Youth Services Council, Maharagama, at 3 pm with the participation of rebel members. The CP, LSSP and Yuthukama Jathika Sanvidhanaya, too, are members of the coalition. They are all constituents of the SLPP grouping.The rebel group consists of 12 lawmakers, including one National List member Gevindu Cumaratunga, all elected /appointed on the SLPP ticket. The SLPP won 145 seats, including 17 National List slots at the last general election.
In addition to them, Ven. Atureliye Rathana thera, appointed member of the Our Power of People Party (OPPP) has joined the grouping.The SLPP rebel group said that they would press President Wickremesinghe to call an early general election challenging the government claim of inability to hold polls as the country continued to experience political instability. The much-touted All-Party Government (APG) seemed nothing but a dead horse, the group said, urging President Wickremesinghe and the SLPP to give up the idea.
The group acknowledged that some of those who had been involved in the original protest campaign launched against the Yugadanavi deal finalized in Sept last year wouldn’t be joining the new coalition for the moment.The 14-member SLFP parliamentary group and lawmakers A.L.M. Athaulla, Tiran Alles and Asanka Navaratne representing different political parties backed the high profile anti-Yugadanavi deal campaign. Since then Alles (SLPP National List) has accepted a ministerial portfolio.
At a recent meeting of the rebel group held at the CP office at Borella, NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa emphasized the need for a wider national programme to address the grievances of the public. The former minister said that the new alliance should redirect the country on the right path. Among those present on the occasion was SLPP MP Premanath Dolawatta, convenor of Sathya Gaweshakayo.In the wake of SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris declaring in parliament last Friday (Aug 31) that a group of 13 SLPP members, including himself would function as an independent group, PHU leader Gammanpila said that they could now enter into talks with 13 rebels to explore ways and means of reaching a consensus.
The 13-member group consist of Prof. Peiris, Dullas Alahapperuma, Dilan Perera, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Prof. Charitha Herath, Prof. Channa Jayasumana, K.P.S. Kumarasiri, Dr. Gunapala Ratnasekera, Wasantha Yapa Bandara, Tilak Rajapaksa, Lalith Ellawela, Udayana Kirindigoda and Upul Galappatti.
Responding to The Island query, the Attorney-at-Law Gammanpila said: “Our group backed Dallas Alahapperuma at the presidential contest conducted on July 20. We couldn’t initiate talks as they remained members of the SLPP. With the announcement made by Prof. Peiris, that obstacle has been removed. We have prepared a common programme. Therefore, we can now enter into talks based on that programme.”
The SLPP rebels and the main Opposition party the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) voted for MP Alahapperuma, who polled 82 votes. The winner Wickremesinghe secured 134 votes in spite of the UNP with just a single vote of his. The SJB won 54 seats at the last general election. Of them, Manusha Nanayakkara and Harin Fernando have accepted ministerial portfolios against the wishes of the party.
Political sources said that the SLFP has been deeply divided over its strategy due to two seniors Nimal Siripala de Silva and Mahinda Amaraweera accepting ministerial portfolios regardless of a party directive. Both ministers have indicated that they wouldn’t quit the government under any circumstances.
Political sources said that though the group led by Prof. Peiris –Alahapperuma had a far bigger group at the onset of the crisis that forced Gotabaya Rajapaksa to give up presidency, some of them later reverted much to the dismay of the group, possibly due to unprecedented violence unleashed by the agitation, while claiming to be non-violent and non-partisan.Sources pointed out that of the 145-member SLPP group, about 20 had now distanced themselves from the party and were exploring the possibility of taking a new path. However, the SLPP still retained a clear simple majority in Parliament therefore didn’t expect any serious challenge at the moment.
The Staff-Level Agreement on an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement worth USD 2.9 billion for Sri Lanka would serve as a credible device in its negotiations with multiple creditors for receiving financing assurances to make its debt restructuring process a success, but the country had to move expeditiously with all other good-faith moves to avoid the crisis becoming worse, Peter Breuer, Senior IMF Mission Chief for Sri Lanka said in Colombo, yesterday.
“The IMF staff-level agreement is a signal from the Sri Lankan authorities of their commitment to implement comprehensive economic reforms; a package now they have committed to the IMF, which will be monitored by the IMF going forward, once the programme is in place. So, this is a credible device for Sri Lanka to show to its creditors that Sri Lanka is serious about engaging in reforms and the country is preparing the ground for economic recovery and is promoting sustainable and inclusive growth,” he said.
” The country can, in fact, refer to the IMF’s EFF programme in its discussions with its creditors because it will show them that Sri Lanka is doing everything it needs to be doing to restore its payment capacity to the international community, through this programme,” he noted.
Breur observed that Sri Lanka was in a special situation because much of its official debt is outside of the Paris Club which is a well-established process that has evolved over many years, and has routines in terms of how to deal with a situation where one sovereign defaults on its debt to other sovereigns.
“However, in the case of Sri Lanka, all of its creditors are not from the Paris Club, and therefore, one needs to think about how to deal with the rest of the debt. A common framework was put in place by the IMF during the course of the Covid crisis because it was thought there would be more defaults in situations like that, but it was limited to low-income countries and Sri Lanka, being a middle-income country, didn’t belong to that common framework. This is why Sri Lanka is a special case to some extent. So solutions appropriate to this situation need to be found. From our perspective, it’s important to move expeditiously from this point onwards. That’s the key here because we want to avoid the crisis becoming worse. So having some kind of forum is important where the debtor and creditors can discuss where the debtor can explain how it got into this situation, and what it is doing to get out of it. At such a forum, creditors would be able to listen and see how other creditors are being treated in the process of debt restructuring. That really is an important step in moving forward and we encourage that process to move forward expeditiously.”
Responding to a question from the media, the IMF said that it had prescribed Sri Lankan authorities to implement major tax reforms including higher personal Income tax and a Wealth Tax – which is generally levied from wealthy asset owners, based on the market value of their assets, minus liabilities.
IMF’s tax prescription includes broadening the tax base for corporate income tax and VAT to reach a primary surplus of 2.3 percent of GDP by 2024. The IMF highlighted the critical need for implementing and expediting major tax reforms to raise fiscal revenue to support fiscal consolidation, Sri Lanka being a country with one of the lowest revenue levels in the world. The IMF said it was looking forward to continuing their engagement in support of Sri Lanka and its people.
Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is currently in Thailand might return to Sri Lanka on Saturday (03), political sources said.Rajapaksa left the country on 13 July as protesters stormed the Presidential Palace among other key government buildings to oust him, and the government. He first went to the Maldives before leaving for Singapore. From the city-state he left for Thailand a few weeks later.
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