Dual citizens in Parliament can stay on unless challenged in court says justice minister
COLOMBO – Despite a clause on Sri Lanka’s 21st Amendment to the Constitution barring dual citizens from entering Parliament, legislators who hold dual citizenship can continue to be in Parliament unless challenged in court, to Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said.
Responding to questions raised in a political talk show on a privately owned television channel on Monday (24), Rajapakshe admitted that MPs in the current Parliament who hold dual citizenship can stay on if they continue unchallenged and anyone whose dual citizenship was not known could surreptitiously enter Parliament.
He said the government was working on an amendment to Sri Lanka’s Parliament elections act to prevent such an event.
Rajapakshe said the matter of dual citizenship need not be the primary focus of the 21st Amendment but it had become a central point of discussion due to the controversy surrounding the dual citizenship of one specific politician.
“We saw the entire country collapsing because of one person. So the people of the country feel this needs to be corrected,” he said.
Opposition MP Patali Champika Ranawaka on Monday called for the resignation of legislators in Sri Lanka who hold dual citizenship, following the enactment of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution
There is currently an unknown number of dual citizens in Sri Lanka’s Parliament.
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