The National Freedom Front (NFF) led by Minister Wimal Weerawansa in a letter to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has expressed the party’s disappointment over the failure to include any of the amendments to the draft bill, proposed by Weerawansa, into the proposal of amendments to the draft of the 20A submitted by the Attorney General in court.
In the letter titled ‘Amendments to be made to the 20th Amendment to the Constitution during the Parliamentary Committee Stage,’ the party has also included its concerns regarding the amendments that should be included in the draft of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution at the parliamentary committee stage.
It has emphasized that three points in the proposed amendments by the NFF are crucial and the general public was also strongly opposed to the issues highlighted through those three points. The letter said neglecting those points will negatively impact the image of the government and the spirit of the public mandate.
- The first point emphasized is the exemption of companies registered under the Registrar of Companies, in which the government holds the majority of shares from the Auditor General’s audit.
- The second point is the passing of emergency acts, without informing the general public regarding such through gazette notifications.
- The third point highlighted is the complete removal of the barrier to dual citizenship instead of imposing it on diplomats and senior government officials beyond the Members of Parliament.
In the letter to the Prime Minister, the National Freedom Front has emphasized that the government should correct those mistakes.
The party has said this should be a political stance taken to protect the public mandate and in the event, the government chooses to ignore this political stance, the party will not be held politically responsible.
