Oct 31, 2019 (LBO) – The Bar Association of Sri Lanka urges the Government not to proceed with the proposed MCC agreement whatever compelling short-term economic reasons there may be.
The Bar Association holds the view that the MCC agreement should not be signed without providing an opportunity for the people to understand the true nature of the agreement.
"It is our belief that the draft proposals should be made available for democratic debate before committing the country to honour an agreement which only a privileged few have been privy," the BASL said.
"In the past, these have been instances where the country and the people had to face the consequences where the respective Governments of the day proceeded to enter upon agreements without educating the public about the contents."
The BASL further states that as a responsible organization they took a lot of time to study the proposed MCC and submitted a detailed report outlining the grave consequences that Sri Lanka would face as an independent and sovereign State in the event the GOSL proceeded to sign the MCC in that form.
"The proposed MCC as it stood then contained many issues of a very grave nature, as explained by us to the Prime Minister in writing, which we now disclose to the public to make their own observations," the BASL stressed.
"We take this step as a responsible association as the assurance given to us previously by the Govt to take any step towards signing the agreement without amendment and making a full disclosure of the contents to the public after obtaining our views has not been honoured."
Related:
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MCC will be submitted to Parliament once it is signed: Finance Ministry
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