Sri Lanka passes Anti-Corruption amendments amid transparency concerns

Glocal
By Editor_1

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s Parliament on Thursday (8) passed amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act without a vote, despite opposition warnings that the changes could weaken transparency safeguards and concerns raised by civil society and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The amendments revise the Anti-Corruption Act, No. 9 of 2023, which was introduced to strengthen accountability and align Sri Lanka’s anti-corruption framework with international standards, including the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

IMF Sri Lanka Mission Chief Evan Papageorgiou had cautioned that the proposed changes risked weakening safeguards relating to asset declarations and public ownership registers, which form part of the governance benchmarks under Sri Lanka’s economic reform program.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Mujibur Rahman said the amendments would restrict public scrutiny of public officials’ assets and liabilities, potentially discouraging investigative journalism and research.

Under the revised provisions, members of the public seeking redacted copies of asset declarations would be restricted to using them for the purpose of lodging formal complaints. Misuse of such information could attract a fine of up to Rs 100,000 and imprisonment for up to one year, he said.

Rahman warned that the penalties could deter journalists, researchers and others from examining the wealth of public officials.

“You cannot obtain copies to conduct investigative journalism or carry out research,” he said, arguing that the restrictions could undermine public oversight and accountability.

He also criticized raising the government-shareholding threshold for state-owned enterprises whose officials must declare their assets from 25% to more than 50%, warning that entities with partial state ownership could fall outside the requirement.

The amendments also remove the requirement to declare the assets and liabilities of people living in the same household as a public official, a provision Rahman said was important in tracing wealth allegedly held through relatives or third parties.

He accused the government of retreating from its mandate to promote transparency and eradicate corruption, arguing that the changes could provide greater protection to officials facing scrutiny over their wealth.

The amendments follow a Supreme Court determination last month on petitions filed by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL).

Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne announced that the court had found Clause 17 of the Bill inconsistent with the Constitution unless approved by a two-thirds parliamentary majority and at a national referendum.

The court also determined that repealing Section 80(1)(e), which requires declarations relating to household cohabitants, would be inconsistent with Article 12(1) of the Constitution, guaranteeing equal protection of the law, unless passed by a special majority.

Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya rejected allegations that the amendments weakened the anti-corruption framework, saying they were intended to address practical, institutional and staffing difficulties encountered in implementing the 2023 law.

She also said the amendments introduced provisions to recover stolen public funds, a mechanism she said was absent from the original legislation.

“This is, in fact, an attempt to resolve the practical challenges, institutional challenges, and human resource issues encountered in implementing the anti-corruption process for the first time in Sri Lanka’s history, rather than diluting it,” she said.

–ENCL

Editor_1
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